Where's my check, government?
"Cash equals security in Iraqi province as US buys loyalty of tribes" by Alexandra Zavis/Los Angeles Times November 18, 2007
TIKRIT, Iraq - The stack of cash sat enticingly on the table beneath a beaded chandelier inside one of Saddam Hussein's marbled palaces: $15,000 in red and green Iraqi notes.
Three tribal leaders inched closer as an American military commander explained how the bundle was theirs if they secured a 30-mile road through a lawless stretch of countryside.
Hoping to replicate a drop in violence in Anbar Province, the US military has signed more than $5.2 million in contracts with local sheiks to protect roads and other infrastructure in Hussein's home province of Salahuddin. That cash has bought the loyalty of more than 2,700 men in a region where support for the executed dictator runs deep.
Giving the money to Saddam's guys! WTF was LIBERATION, anyway?!
What a FAILING DISASTER the Bush presidency is!
A mass-murdering failure is he!!!!
Of course, Americans don't need any of that money for anything.
US commanders say the strategy is yielding dividends. In the first 90 days, the number of bombs that exploded or were found in the areas secured by the tribesmen dropped up to 60 percent in some places.
But the aggressiveness with which such deals are being pursued in other Sunni parts of the country has stoked tension with the Shi'ite-led national government in Baghdad, which fears Sunni tribesmen will turn their guns on it once they have defeated their common enemy: Al Qaeda in Iraq.
Well, just this week the U.S. generals said the government -- the U.S.-sponsored government -- is now the problem.
Don't believe me? Then here is the post and quote, folks:
"Senior military commanders here now portray the intransigence of Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government as the key threat facing the U.S. effort in Iraq, rather than al-Qaeda terrorists, Sunni insurgents or Iranian-backed militias."
If the Iraqi government does not pick up what are short-term arrangements between the Americans and the tribes, the consequences could be explosive.
"We have got 2,700 military-aged males that right now have a job and probably have some pride, and the rug is going to get ripped out from under them," said Army Lieutenant Colonel Mark Edmonds, deputy commander of the Third Brigade Combat Team, 82d Airborne Division, which recently wrapped up 15 months in Salahuddin. "If I am an insurgent leader, I'm going to capitalize on that."
Even among Sunnis in the province, many are suspicious of the paid alliances with the United States, which they say have caused disputes within families, emboldened local strongmen, and triggered a backlash by the most extreme elements of the insurgency.
Attacks picked up again during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which in recent years has been a time of increased insurgent violence, and many of the bombings and shootings targeted the United States' new tribal allies.
And yet the MSM press told us they are declining. Oh, am I ever sick of the lies!
Before the tribes began working with the Americans, "Salahuddin was respected and there was security," said Sheik Faisel Deham Draa, one of many leaders of the powerful Dulaimi tribe. "Since it was established, it has spread chaos."
So the surge is in fact a huge whopping failure.
Bomb attacks increased after these guys started working with us?
Pffffffttttt!
He maintained that the Iraqi police and military were capable of maintaining security without the help of US-backed tribal fighters he dismissed as a "militia."
US commanders concede that Tikrit, with its educated, largely secular population, has never been fertile ground for Islamic extremist groups such as Al Qaeda in Iraq. The dominant influence is Hussein's Ba'ath Party, which is ideologically opposed to religious fundamentalism.
That means Hussein was an ENEMY of TERRORISTS, huh?
Is there no end to the failures of Bush and his policies?
So Saddam was OUR FRIEND in the war on terror -- and the U.S. deposed him!
The tribal leaders initially tolerated Al Qaeda in Iraq because both groups opposed the US occupation, but they quickly soured on the group's extreme version of Islam and brutal enforcement of Sharia law. Al Qaeda in Iraq is a home-grown group but is believed to be foreign-led. "They have turned religion upside down," said Sheik Sabbah Shamari, a key US ally in Salahuddin."
That's what I would expect from "Al-CIA-Duh," sir!
Also see:
Asymmetrical Warfare Group
Operation Gladio
Operation Northwoods
Salvador Option
Special Police Commandos
Proactive, Preemptive Operations Group
Prop 201 tutorial
FRU
And did I mention the Pentagon's press offices in Lincoln, the Pentagon and Langley?
