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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / War / Real Genius

Real Genius

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Barring any credible progress on reconciliation between Shiite and Sunni groups in Iraq, supporters of throwing American blood into the country forever generally point to the movement within Sunni groups to police themselves against outside agitators like al Qaeda in Iraq. Unfortunately the program is falling apart on several levels. For one, while we were successfully exporting democracy labor strikes seem to have snuck in among the the crates.

The success of the US “surge” strategy in Iraq may be under threat as Sunni militia employed by the US to fight al-Qaida are warning of a national strike because they are not being paid regularly.

Leading members of the 80,000-strong Sahwa, or awakening, councils have said they will stop fighting unless payment of their $10 a day (£5) wage is resumed. The fighters are accusing the US military of using them to clear al-Qaida militants from dangerous areas and then abandoning them.

Assuming that American-trained and armed Sunni groups do go on strike, they will have to pay their cable bills some other way. Since central government in Iraq went the way of the Lake Sarammish Sammamish salmon that traditionally means kidnapping and extortion.

If we can’t pay the groups who we need to work with us (maybe somebody could re-find that $9 billion?) then at least we could stop killing them.

American-backed Sunni volunteer forces had set up two checkpoints at a small bridge near the insurgent stronghold city of Samarra, taking precautions not to be mistaken for enemy fighters. They had spent the night before with their U.S. allies, marking areas where their men were stationed, and said they were told everything was fine.

“Our men wore special uniforms with the translucent markings so that they would be recognized by the American planes and were deployed at two points north and south of Ishaki bridge,” said Abu Farouk, a leader of the predominantly Sunni “Awakening” forces, which the U.S. military refers to as the Sons of Iraq or Concerned Local Citizens.

At 4 a.m. Saturday, an Apache helicopter opened fire, killing six men and wounding two. The military said in a statement that the men were suspected of planting improvised explosive devices. Citing initial reports, the military acknowledged that Farouk’s group was friendly to U.S. forces and said the attack was under investigation.

This isn’t the first time that we have killed people trying to help us. When our friendly fire comes in the form of red tape rather than rockets the effect is the same. Iraqis who might want to cooperate weigh their options and decide that the risk isn’t worth it.


PNAC, the early years.

Reader Interactions

31Comments

  1. 1.

    Ninerdave

    For one, while we were successfully exporting democracy labor strikes seem to have snuck in among the the crates.

    It’s all Organized Labor’s fault. If there weren’t unions…

  2. 2.

    Dennis - SGMM

    Why does it seems as though we’ve just been making up the strategy as we go along?
    Capture Baghdad, then assure the people’s love for us by letting looting and chaos reign while we guard the Oil Ministry.
    Disband the Iraqi army, now train a new Iraqi army.
    Insist on de-Baathification, then hire back the Baathists.
    Arm the Shia so that the Sunnis can’t stage a coup d’état.
    Arm the Sunnis so that they can deal with Al Qaeda.

    Declare progress at every new development.

  4. 4.

    Seitz

    This isn’t the first time that we have killed people trying to help us

    That’s what they get for being brown in a war zone.

  5. 5.

    jake

    Iraqis who might want to cooperate weigh their options and decide that the risk isn’t worth it.

    Whatever for Tim? If things become too difficult at home they can just apply for refugee status in the – Oh no I forgot, they can’t.

    We must let them die over there so we don’t have to bury them over here.

  6. 6.

    TenguPhule

    This isn’t the first time that we have killed people trying to help us. When our friendly fire comes in the form of red tape rather than rockets the effect is the same. Iraqis who might want to cooperate weigh their options and decide that the risk isn’t worth it.

    Who can blame them?

    They’re safer against America then for it. Think about who’s in charge on each side and decide, who do you think will win?

  7. 7.

    TenguPhule

    Why does it seems as though we’ve just been making up the strategy as we go along?

    It’s worse then that.

    They don’t have any real strategy. Everything is a desperate grabass attempt to keep it from exploding before Bush has fled the Whitehouse.

  9. 9.

    srv

    You America-haters do not understand. Our forces over there are legally distinct from the US military. If you think they should be paying off these terrorist unions, you’ll need to go through proper controlling legal authority.

  10. 10.

    Dennis - SGMM

    Our forces over there are legally distinct from the US military.

    From the linked article:

    The government cites a postinvasion Security Council resolution on the reconstruction of Iraq to assert that Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and his troops serve in an international army that “is legally distinct from the U.S. military.”

    Then why do we have to pay them? Seriously, according to Bushco, the Americans serving in Iraq are legally distinct from the U.S. military. Just what the hell are these people trying to pull off now? This makes no sense what so ever.

  11. 11.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    Leading members of the 80,000-strong Sahwa, or awakening, councils have said they will stop fighting unless payment of their $10 a day (£5) wage is resumed.

    How much money was spent on McCain’s security detail while he was visiting? How much backpay could have been filled with those funds?

    Maybe the US Govt should set up a program where each American family can adopt a Sahwa fighter for just 10 bucks a day – like those pitiful Save-The-Children posters, only with rifles and RPG’s. Then we could get monthly email updates of how “our” fighter is doing – how many roadblocks they’ve manned, how many Shia they’ve arrested recently, when they got shot up by Apache helicopters, etc.

  12. 12.

    El Cid

    The New York Times has a report which makes me real nervous.

    Fierce Attack on Green Zone as Violence Erupts in Iraq
    By ERICA GOODE | Published: March 24, 2008 | New York Times

    BAGHDAD — As many as 20 mortar shells were fired at the heavily fortified Green Zone on Sunday, one of the fiercest and most sustained attacks on the area in the last year.

    The shelling sent thick plumes of dark gray smoke over central Baghdad and ignited a spectacular fire on the banks of the Tigris River, ushering in a day of violence that claimed the lives of at least 58 lraqis around the country and added to the sense that insurgent and sectarian violence have been on the rise in recent weeks.

    Bush Administration officials have said repeatedly that an increase in troops has reduced violence to the point that political and sectarian reconciliation is becoming a reality. The administration has withdrawn some of the reinforcements and is assessing the effect of that reduction before withdrawing further troops, a decision expected in the next week.

    But recent statistics compiled by the Pentagon suggest that after dropping significantly last fall, the number of daily attacks remained static from November through January, the last month for which official figures are available. And that relative calm has been pierced by a flareup of violence in recent weeks.

    No Americans were killed in the shelling on Sunday, officials said, but mortar shells that fell short of their target killed 13 Iraqis in neighborhoods east of the Green Zone. The first attack, at about 6 a.m., sent thunderous booms echoing across the city, shaking buildings and rattling windows.

    Although the source of the attacks could not be determined conclusively, two witnesses said the early morning rounds were fired across the river from the Shiite-dominated Baladiyat neighborhood by a group of militia men who the witnesses believed belonged to the Mahdi Army, founded by the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr…

    Excerpt. Follow link for full article.

  13. 13.

    Saul Goode

    Timmeh…you seem to be grasping for any sign of defeat. I hate to break it to ya Skippy, but it ain’t gonna happen.

    Sure, you’ll have your occassional bright spot where AQ will strap bombs to mentally challenged little girls and killing scores of innocents, but those days are numbered.

    Oh, BTW…you might wanna re-think your hysterical position on global warming..er climate change, as the kids are calling it these days
    http://www.theaustralian.news.com.:au/story/0,25197,23411799-7583,00.html

  14. 14.

    Rex

    As said above, it’s Lake Sammamish, not Sarammish. And really, what is the point of that citation? It’s not all salmon in Lake Sammamish, it’s one strain of summer breeding kokanee. There is still a fall run of the same species. As well as numerous coho and chinook.

  15. 15.

    El Cid

    Saul: Why is anyone supposed to be surprised that a representative of a “Australia’s leading free market think tank” claims to offer that global warming is now disproven?

    Should I respond by posting a scientist from a think tank supporting global warming / greenhouse effect and say “so there”?

    For example, there’s a good reason deniers like Marohasy want to start measuring temperatures in 1998 — due to the exceptionality of El Niño.

    From the UK’s Meteorology Office (“Met Office”).
    “Climate change – Fact 2: Temperatures are continuing to rise”

    A simple mathematical calculation of the temperature change over the latest decade (1998-2007) alone shows a continued warming of 0.1 °C per decade. The warming trend can be seen in the graph of observed global temperatures. The red bars show the global annual surface temperature, which exhibit year-to-year variability. The blue line clearly shows the upward trend, far greater than the uncertainties, which are shown as thin black bars. The recent slight slowing of the warming is due to a shift towards more-frequent La Niña conditions in the Pacific since 1998. These bring cool water up from the depths of the Pacific Ocean, cooling global temperatures.

    1998 saw an exceptional El Niño event which contributed strongly to that record-breaking year. Research shows that an exceptional El Niño can warm global temperatures by about 0.2 °C in a single year, affecting both the ocean surface and air temperatures over land. Had any recent years experienced such an El Niño, it is very likely that this record would have been broken. 2005 was also an unusually warm year, the second highest in the global record, but was not associated with El Niño conditions that boosted the warmth of 1998.

    Another way of looking at the warming trend is that 1999 was a similar year to 2007 as far the cooling effects of La Niña are concerned. The 1999 global temperature was 0.26 °C above the 1961-90 average, whereas 2007 was 0.37 °C above this average, 0.11 °C warmer than 1999.

  16. 16.

    Dennis - SGMM

    Saul: Why is anyone supposed to be surprised that a representative of a “Australia’s leading free market think tank” claims to offer that global warming is now disproven?

    From the SourceWatch.org article about this free-market think tank:

    The Institute of Public Affairs is a right-wing, corporate funded think tank based in Melbourne. It has close links to the Liberal Party, with it’s Executive Director John Roskam having run for Liberal preselection for a number of elections. Its key policy positions include advocacy for privatisation, deregulation, reduction in the power of unions and denial of most significant environmental problems, including climate change.

    Am I the only one who, on hearing the phrase “right wing think tank” immediately thinks of phrases like, “military intelligence” or “hospital food” or “amicable divorce”?

  17. 17.

    w vincentz

    OT- CNN just reported that with the deaths of four more US military today, the milestone of 4,000 has been reached.
    I wonder how many more will there be.

  18. 18.

    TenguPhule

    Sure, you’ll have your occassional bright spot where AQ will strap bombs to mentally challenged little girls and killing scores of innocents, but those days are numbered.

    “Ve can Vight a two Vront war against the English Swine and the stupid Russians!

    My only puzzlement is that given the caliber of leadership in Al Queda and that in the US government, why hasn’t Al Queda simply declared victory already?

  21. 21.

    TenguPhule

    Who on Earth am I supposed to believe?

    “Who ya gonna believe? Me or your lying eyes?”

  22. 22.

    D0n Camillo

    “Who ya gonna believe? Me or your lying eyes?”

    I’m gonna go with lying eyes for $1000, Alex.

  23. 23.

    TenguPhule

    I’m gonna go with lying eyes for $1000, Alex.

    Today’s *Daily Double*.

    He said “F*CK YOU” to a US Senator on the floor of the Senate.

  24. 24.

    AlanDownunder

    right wing think tank

    Translation: thick tank
    (but deemed by the racketeers who endow it to be essential to their continued megawealth)

    right wing think tank paper

    Translation: highly remunerative opinion made to order

    right wing think tank fellow

    Translation: either a loony or a prostitute

  25. 25.

    D0n Camillo

    Today’s Daily Double.

    He said “F*CK YOU” to a US Senator on the floor of the Senate.

    Who’s Deadeye Dick, shooter of lawyers, Alex?

  26. 26.

    MAX HATS

    As a marine in Iraq, let me say that an awakening group working with U.S. forces one night then planting an IED the next night are hardly mutually exclusive.

  28. 28.

    w vincentz

    Max Hats,
    This exact kind of behavior (planting IED’s at night) happened so long ago to a good friend of mine. During the day, as part of the “Vietnamization” plan, he trained people to become ARVN. At night, they were Vietcong.
    They planted a mortar shell along the train he used, hooked it to a car battery, and touched it off when he came along.
    It blew off both legs, his right arm, and half of his face including his right eye. He lived, but spent the rest of his life trying to understand the meaning of it.
    Later, he even brought medical supplies to Vietnam, counseled vets, and taught college courses dealing with history and the US involvement in SE Asia.
    Sadly, he died two years ago. I don’t believe he ever found the answer to the questions his sacrifice demanded.
    Max Hat, I hope you return safely and don’t have to deal with similar questions for the remainder of your life.
    In my humble view, the lesson was learned long ago.

  29. 29.

    mario

    man, oh man.

    All these comments and no one says anything about the clip?

    One of my all time favorite movies. Good choice Tim.

    Ice is nice!!!!

  30. 30.

    Saul Goode

    For example, there’s a good reason deniers like Marohasy want to start measuring temperatures in 1998—due to the exceptionality of El Niño.

    Nah…1998 was the year where the GW hysterics claimed, incorrectly so, that was the warmest ever

  31. 31.

    El Cid

    Saul: You’re an idiot. You just confirmed the wrongness of your quoted argument by reinforcing my point about the ridiculousness of starting a discussion of trends at an extreme.

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