In December, the New York Times reported on the growth of so-called "Awakening Groups" in Iraq: groups of Iraqis -- that had been fighting with the U.S. -- which the U.S. decided to pay and arm to patrol neighborhoods for insurgency-related activities. Eight months ago, some people doubted the long-term loyalty of the Awakening Groups. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's security adviser commented:
“Many people believe this will end with tens of thousands of armed people, primarily Sunnis, and this will excite the Shiite militias to grow and in the end it will grow into a civil war.”
Three days ago, IPS News reported on more recent Awakening Group activity:
"A massive military operation in Diyala province has underscored the military and political gains by the Sahwa militia, despite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's earlier attempts to thwart them. Maliki has now apparently come around to involving the Sahwa rather than opposing them.
"The Sahwa are the 'Awakening Forces' created and paid by the U.S. military to co-opt militants and to fight al-Qaeda, but which have become a force of their own parallel to the military and the police.
"They are a mostly Sunni militia of about 90,000 comprising mostly former anti-occupation resistance fighters and even al-Qaeda members. Each member is paid 300 dollars monthly.
"The Sahwa have long been at odds with the regular Iraqi forces, but they came out in strength this time following a promise of 3,000 jobs for their members in the national police.
"The move came after Maliki, who leads a Shia dominated government, dropped his long opposition to absorption of Sahwa members in government forces." (IPS)
It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.
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