Thursday, October 05, 2006
Tribal security plan is criticised
Tribal, Security
Reports of US-backed Sunni militias being organized have brought new uncertainty to deepening chaos in Iraq. Some Sunni leaders from al-Anbar province recently met away from their tribes to set up the new groups, according to local reports. These new militias have received early praise from Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and US officials. However, they could in fact undermine Maliki's four-point plan to unite Shi'ite and Sunni parties in his government in an effort to end sectarian violence.
The United States had earlier called for the disarming of all militias for the sake of peace and reconciliation, but that policy has clearly changed. The occupation forces now back both Shi'ite and Sunni militias in different areas of the country. These new groups are drawing strong condemnation from other Sunni tribal chiefs. "They are a group of thieves who are arming thieves, and this is something dangerous and nasty," said Sheikh Sa'adoon, chief of a large Sunni tribe near Khaldiyah city in al-Anbar. "This only means we will have more disturbances here, and it could create local civil war." Another tribal leader in the area, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "They are only doing this in order to kill as many Sunnis as possible, and this time with Sunni hands." He said true tribal leaders should lead any militias they form, rather than issue orders from the Green Zone, the US and Iraqi government enclave in Baghdad. "Leaders should lead their soldiers on the battlefield, but those so-called sheikhs are well protected behind concrete walls inside the dirty zone [Green Zone]," he said. "How can they win a battle by remote control?"
The controversial move also appears to have brought widespread condemnation from academics, Iraqi military leaders and even Shi'ite politicians. "It is a new way of making millions of dollars," said a professor at al-Anbar University in Ramadi. New Iraqi Army Brigadier-General Jassim Rashid al-Dulaimi, from Anbar province, said: "I cannot imagine 30,000 more guns in the Iraqi field. I hope they will reject the idea. Iraq needs more engineers and clean politicians to solve the dilemma of the existing militias rather than recruiting new ones to kill more Iraqis. The idea sounds to me [like] turning the country into a mercenary-recruitment center."
Shi'ite leader Jaafar al-Assadi said the move would bring more violence. "Al-Anbar will fight even more now with the guns given to those fools," he said. "They are surely going to sell their weapons to the terrorists or surrender to them sooner or later." Some of these group leaders have distanced themselves from the new militias. Sheikh Hamid Muhanna, chief of the large tribe al-Bu Alwan, appeared on Al-Jazeera television denying the creation of such militias. He said he and the other sheikhs were in control of their tribes, and those who met with Maliki spoke for themselves only.
