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Sunni Iraqis Fear a Bloodbath of Reprisal After Possible U.S. Exit

By Patrick Cockburn, CounterPunch. Posted April 14, 2009.


As American troops prepare to leave, the Sunni who changed from insurgents to US allies over the last two years are fearful for their future.

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The Sunni Arabs lost their dominant position in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was overthrown, but they began to regain their strength when the United States recruited them as foot soldiers to fight against al-Qa'ida. But now, as American troops prepare to go home, the Sunni who changed from insurgents to US allies over the last two years are once more fearful for their future.

This weekend was a case in point. In the latest attack, a suicide bomber - almost certainly from al-Qa'ida - killed 13 and wounded 30 Sunni paramilitaries. The victims were all members of the Awakening Councils, the US-backed Sunni militia groups, which had at first fought the American occupation until they revolted against growing al-Qa'ida control of the rebellion. In all an estimated 53 Awakening Council members were killed last week.

Not only are members of the Awakening Council being targeted by the bombers and assassins of al-Qa'ida. They are regarded with extreme distrust by the largely Shia government and security forces in Baghdad at the very moment that their American protectors are departing.

Some 250 of the lightly armed Awakening Council fighters, also known as al-Sahwa or the Sons of Iraq, were milling around outside an Iraqi army base in the town of Jbala, 35 miles south of Baghdad, waiting to collect their pay when the bomber struck on Saturday. He was wearing an explosives belt and was able to infiltrate the crowd because he was wearing the same uniform as the Awakening Council members.

"What have we done to deserve this?" shouted Mohammed al-Janabi, who was seriously wounded in the stomach and legs by the blast. "We helped to make this area safe and when come to receive our salaries, our bodies are ripped apart. God damn al-Qa'ida! God damn al-Qa'ida!"

The latest attack shows al-Qa'ida, while weaker than it was in 2005-07 at the height of the Sunni-Shia civil war, still has the ability to recruit, equip and target suicide bombers in central and northern Iraq. Last Friday a truck loaded with 2,000lb of explosives crashed into the entrance of the main military base in the northern city of Mosul, killing five US soldiers and two members of the Iraqi security forces.

The Awakening Councils, whose emergence at the end of 2006 was crucial to ending the Sunni uprising against the US occupation, contain many former anti-American insurgents and al-Qa'ida members. This makes it easy for al-Qa'ida to obtain intelligence on when the paramilitaries are most vulnerable to attack.

A sign of the deep suspicions dividing members of the Awakening Councils and the predominantly Shia government security forces is that the Sunni fighters had not been allowed to enter together the base at Jbala to receive their pay, which was in any case three months' late. Instead of being protected by the base's fortifications the fighters were compelled to wait in the street outside while small parties entered the base to get their money.

The Awakening Councils have always been suspected by the Iraqi government, which is dominated by Shia and Kurds, of containing many former Baathists and insurgents who cannot be trusted. The original backlash against al-Qa'ida in overwhelmingly Sunni Anbar province and in Sunni strongholds in and around Baghdad was largely spontaneous.


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See more stories tagged with: iraq, sunni, sunni awakening

Patrick Cockburnis the author of 'The Occupation: War, resistance and daily life in Iraq', a finalist for the National Book Critics' Circle Award for best non-fiction book of 2006. His new book 'Muqtada! Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia revival and the struggle for Iraq' is published by Scribner.

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View:
Trusting the US Is a Foolish Thing
Posted by: DrBrian on Apr 14, 2009 3:56 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The US has a long history of doing this to people. In the wake of the first Gulf War George W. Bush urged the Kurds and Shii to rise up against Saddam and promised them support, then abandoned them to be slaughtered. We did the same with many of our allies in Vietnam. We go around the world doing nasty things to people and expecting everyone to love us. Trusting the US is a foolish thing to do.

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Hard to sympathize
Posted by: leafsong1 on Apr 14, 2009 7:22 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
These guys are collaborators and traitors. The shiite government is collaborators and traitors. The baathists are collaborators and traitors. Iraqis would be justified in hating all of them. The least guilty parties are the Sadrists and Al Qaida; only they consistently supported Iraqi sovereignty and opposed the occupation. Hopefully, these last two will band together and provide the others a well deserved comeuppance when the criminal US occupation finally ends.

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» RE: Hard to sympathize Posted by: wonkywriter
» RE: Hard to sympathize Posted by: leafsong1
» RE: Hard to sympathize Posted by: Basenjis
Israel gets a woody
Posted by: weathered on Apr 14, 2009 7:44 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
this link w/Israel is an 10w50 oil can of toxic karma.

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Biden was probably right
Posted by: maxsmart on Apr 14, 2009 11:18 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The only way to prevent the violence may have been to partition the country into semi-autonomous ethnic regions. Maybe they should still consider it as a short term solution on their own and have a reconciliation after the country has stabilized.

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Of all the places we've screwed over
Posted by: willymack on Apr 14, 2009 12:10 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Iraq has to be near the top of the list. If we leave immediately, another tinpot dictator will surely move in and take over. If we ease out over a period of years, the same thing will happen. What I'm saying here is that there is absolutely NO valid reason we shouldn't leave just as fast as we thundered into that hapless, helpless, unfortunate nation, and WITHOUT their oil. If they want us to have any of that, they can sell it at a price THEY set.

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