[Peace-discuss] Fw: [socialistdiscussion] fwd: "The Growing Storm"

[unionyes]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Reimann" <1999wildcat at gmail.com>
To: "socialist discussion" <socialistdiscussion at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, April 03, 2009 5:18 AM
Subject: [socialistdiscussion] fwd: "The Growing Storm"


For years, the US occupation of Afghanistan was forgotten as the US
occupation of Iraq dominated the news. Now, one would think that the
war in Iraq is all but over, as Afghanistan once again dominates the
attention of US capitalism. However, it seems that Iraq may soon come
back into focus. As reported by Dahr Jamail, it seems that the US
strategy of coopting the Sunni resistance groups by building the
"Awakening Councils" is about to backfire. Under the plan to "give the
Iraqis control", these Awakening Councils were to be integrated into
the Shia controlled state. Predictably, not only is this not
happening, but the state sees these Councils as a threat and are
starting to move against them.

Here is Jamail's report:

The Growing Storm

by Dahr Jamail
April 2nd, 2009 | T r u t h o u t

Last weekend, the Iraqi government arrested an Awakening Group leader
of a Baghdad neighborhood, then moved into the area. With the help of
US occupation forces, they disarmed the militiamen under his control,
but only after fighting broke out between US-backed Iraqi government
security forces and the US-formed Sunni Awakening Group militia. This
disturbing event is the realization of what most Iraqis have long
feared - that the relative calm in Iraq today would eventually be
broken when fighting erupts between these two entities.

The US policy that has led to this recent violence has been long in
the making, as it has only been a matter of time before the tenuous
truce between the groups came unglued. For it has been a truce built
on a deeply corrupt US policy of backing the predominantly Shia Iraqi
government forces while paying the Sunni resistance not to fight both
government and occupation forces.

Most of us remember all too well the praise from the Bush
administration lavished on the Awakening Groups, a Sunni militia
comprised of former resistance fighters and al-Qaeda members
(according to the US military), each member paid $300 per month of US
taxpayer money. They grew in strength to 100,000 men.

US aid to the Councils was cut off last October on the understanding
that the members would be absorbed into Iraqi government forces. To
date, less than a third have been given government jobs.

Two months ago I visited the al-Dora area of Baghdad, a sprawling area
controlled by Awakening forces. One of their commanders told me he was
concerned about the fact that most of his men were not being given
government jobs. “They are lacking pay, and most of them are becoming
more angry by the day, since they have had more broken promises than
they can handle,” he explained as we drank tea, “Many of my men have
not been paid since October. This cannot continue.”

Meanwhile, the US-backed Iraqi government led by US-appointed Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki continues to target the leadership of the
Awakening Groups. Maliki perceives the Awakening groups as both a
political and military threat, and since October has been targeting
their leadership in parts of Baghdad, as well as in Iraq’s volatile
Diyala Province.

In the wake of the spasm of violence in Baghdad last weekend, The
Washington Post reported “As Apache helicopter gunships cruised above
Baghdad’s Fadhil neighborhood, former Sunni insurgents fought from
rooftops and street corners against American and Iraqi forces,
according to witnesses, the Iraqi military and police. At least 15
people were wounded in the gunfights, which lasted several hours. By
nightfall, the street fighters had taken five Iraqi soldiers hostage.
The battles, the most ferocious in nearly a year in Baghdad, erupted
minutes after the arrest of Adil Mashadani, the leader of the Fadhil
Awakening Council, which is composed mostly of former Sunni insurgents
who allied themselves with the US military in exchange for monthly
salaries that are now paid by Iraq’s government.”

Of course, the reason given to justify government’s detention of the
Awakening leader of the area, the incident that triggered the
bloodshed, were “terrorist acts” by the group, according to Iraq’s
chief military spokesman, Gen. Qassim Atta. Predictably, the Awakening
group spokesman for the area, Abu Mirna, told the Post, “We will fight
them till the end if they don’t release him.”

It was convenient policy to have set up the Awakening groups to
temporarily quell overall violence in Iraq. Resistance fighters rushed
to join the ranks for the paycheck, as well as US military protection
from Shia militias, which now largely comprise the government security
apparatus. Now, however, clearly the US has lost some of their
interest in continuing to support the Awakening groups, and the Maliki
government is ratcheting up its efforts to dismantle them.
Predictably, members of the Awakening are fighting back - for without
a paycheck, and with yet another broken promise by the occupation
forces to spur them on, why should they sit back and allow themselves
to be detained, killed or further betrayed?

However, let us not martyr the Awakening Groups. Most of the
leadership of the Awakening Groups are thugs, as are many of the
members. Within weeks of the formation of the groups back in 2006,
Iraqis living in areas that began to come under the control of
Awakening groups began complaining of the brutality of the fighters in
their area. Extortion and bribery became rampant, and many Iraqis view
Awakening forces as collaborators with the occupiers of their country.

For example, I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with
the president of the Fallujah Awakening Council, Sheikh Aifan Sadun,
who, like other Awakening leaders, has hundreds of security personnel
under his control. It was just before the January 30 elections in
Iraq, and he was vying for political power against a rival Sunni group
in the city - the Iraqi Islamic Party. Sheikh Aifan, who spoke with me
while driving his $420,000 custom-built heavily armored BMW through
the city that was destroyed by two US sieges in 2004, was accusing his
rivals of rigging the upcoming elections.

He told me he would use “any means necessary” to fight them if they
stole the elections. It was and is all about power for these Awakening
leaders. And money. Shiekh Aifan, like most of the Awakening leaders,
quickly got into the “construction business” when the US military
stopped direct payments to them last October. Now those payments come
in the form of “construction contracts.” Sheikh Aifan himself has been
awarded “contracts” worth $250 million - keep that in mind during this
tax season, because it is your money that is paying for things like
his own private militia, his BMW and his mansion on the outskirts of
Fallujah.

In nearby Ramadi, the capital city of Al-Anbar, Sheikh Ahmad Abo Risha
is president of the Awakening Council for the entire province. Just
before the election, he, like Sheikh Aifan, was making moves to ensure
he maintained his grip on power. His rival in the elections was Sheikh
Hamid Al-Hayis, also an Awakening Council leader in the city, and from
the same tribe. Abo Risha did not have kind words for Al-Hayis.
“Al-Hayis has relations with government people and oil contracts, and
he gets money from this by using his position which we helped him
acquire,” Abo Risha told me at the Awakening Council of Ramadi
headquarters. “I’m from a long line of sheikhs, but Al-Hayis has only
been a sheikh since 2006 when we started the Awakening,” Abo Risha
said. If Al-Hayis were to win the elections, “there will be a
revolution.”

When I asked Abo Risha about the Islamic Party, which Sheikh Aifan was
accusing of trying to steal the elections, he told me if the Islamic
Party took the elections by fraud, “It will be like Darfur.”

None of these threats came to pass, as both men were victorious over
their rivals. But their bellicose rhetoric is indicative of the kind
of people they are, and the lengths they are willing to go to in order
to maintain and/or seize power.

Despite the corruption and inherent infighting with the Awakening
Group leaders, most of them, and the tens of thousands of men under
their control, will certainly fight when attacked or provoked, as
evidenced by this past weekend in Baghdad.

Broadening the frame of reference, keep in mind that government
detentions, killings and threats towards Awakening Group leaders and
members are ongoing in neighborhoods of Baghdad, as well as across
Diyala province. We should expect violence in the areas of Baghdad
they control as the Iraqi government continues to make moves towards
taking them out in advance of the national elections scheduled for
later this year. Thus, keep your eyes on the following areas of
Baghdad in the coming weeks and months: Adhamiyah, Amiriyah, Gazaliyah
and al-Dora, to name just a few. More broadly, also watch Baquba and
surrounding areas where Awakening Groups are largely in control.

And keep Al-Anbar in mind. The province, which is one-third the
geographic area of Iraq, is largely controlled by Awakening groups.
This is the area where the fiercest resistance to the occupation has
occurred, and if US occupation forces or the US-backed Iraqi
government begins to move on men like Sheikh Aifan or Abo Risha, it
will bring predictable results.

As Awakening Group member Abu Ayad, 58, told the Post, “We will all
become suicide bombers” if his leader, Mashadani, is not released by
the Iraqi government.

-- 
Check out:
http://www.iww.org/en/blog/1411


------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/socialistdiscussion/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/socialistdiscussion/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:socialistdiscussion-digest at yahoogroups.com
    mailto:socialistdiscussion-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    socialistdiscussion-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/



-- 
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.557 / Virus Database: 270.11.40/2039 - Release Date: 4/3/2009 
6:19 AM