Thin Black Line
Member
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/12/niraq612.xml
I did a deployment in Iraq with part of that time in Baghdad. I fail to see how
a retinal scan would determine if someone had pushed the button on an IED
or launched a mortar in the past....
America arms Sunnis against al-Qa'eda
By Damien McElroy in Baghdad
Last Updated: 8:37am BST 12/06/2007
American military commanders are providing arms to Sunni Muslim insurgents in Baghdad to encourage them to fight al-Qa’eda-linked groups.
Despite fears that militants will use temporary allegiances with American forces to re-arm and gain tactical advantages over rivals, US leaders have approved a series of deals in parts of the capital.
The policy comes as it emerged that American forces were conducting joint patrols with groups of insurgents – who have been re-designated as “freedom fighters” by the Americans – in the Amariyah district of the capital.
Impromptu alliances have emerged after community leaders vowed to expel foreign fighters loyal to al-Qa’eda in at least two districts of the capital.
While the pacts are untested, US officers claim an increase in the number of arrests of al-Qa’eda loyalists and seizures of arms caches.
Maj Gen Rick Lynch said contacts with the Sunnis offered the coalition the prospect of winning over the bulk of the fighters waging a vicious insurgency against the Baghdad government.
“What’s the long term effect of arming members of the Sunni population?” Major Gen Lynch said. “What I’ve seen over time is the Sunni population saying 'enough, we’ve had enough of these attacks’. As a result you see them wanting to arm themselves so they can protect the population mostly against al-Qa’eda. So we’ve got to reach out to them.”
[TBL: We American Citizens will also keep that in mind when future American
politicians speak of disarming us while they allow violent criminals to run
free across our country.]
Al-Qa’eda’s harsh tactics – including punishment shootings and extortion – appear to have alienated Sunni communities who had previously tolerated terrorists.
American commanders have even conceded they may be embracing men with the blood of US soldiers on their hands to see more pressure put on al-Qa’eda.
In Amariyah, troops from the 1st Cavalry Division conducted a patrols with a local group calling itself the “Baghdad Patriots” last week. The patrols appeared to yield immediate results with the arrest of five alleged al-Qa’eda members and the seizure of weapons caches.
The Washington Post reported that American military commanders had granted the gunmen powers of arrest, allowed the Iraqi army to supply them with ammunition, and fought alongside them in street battles. One senior military commander was quoted as saying that American forces “have made a deal with the devil”.
The US said it will use fingerprinting, retinal scans and other tests to establish whether insurgents had been involved in fighting against American troops.
Elsewhere, eleven people died over the weekend in clashes between insurgent groups in Am. Imams in the district gave their backing to co-operation with US forces after a series of unprovoked killings by al-Qa’eda cells determined to impose a strict Islamic code.
In an apparent effort to stop the revolt, the Islamic Army in Iraq – a leading al-Qa’eda aligned insurgent group – last week declared a ceasefire against other insurgent groups.
I did a deployment in Iraq with part of that time in Baghdad. I fail to see how
a retinal scan would determine if someone had pushed the button on an IED
or launched a mortar in the past....
