Ali Rifat and Hala Jaber, Washington
May 04
IRAQ is threatened by a new wave of sectarian violence as members of the "Sons of Iraq" - the Sunni Awakening militias that were paid by the US to fight al-Qa'ida - begin to rejoin the insurgency.
If the spike in violence continues, it could affect US President Barack Obama's pledge to withdraw all combat troops from Iraqi cities by the end of June. All US troops are due to leave the country by 2012.
A leading member of the Political Council of Iraqi Resistance, which represents six Sunni militant groups, said: "The resistance has now returned to the field and is intensifying its attacks against the enemy. The number of coalition forces killed is on the rise."
The increase in attacks by such groups, combined with a spate of bombings blamed on al-Qa'ida, has had a chilling effect on the streets of Iraq.
More than 370 Iraqi civilians and military - and 80 Iranian pilgrims - were killed last month, making it the bloodiest month since last September.
On Wednesday, five car-bombs exploded in a crowded market in Sadr City, Baghdad, killing 51 people and injuring 76. Three US soldiers were killed on Thursday and two more yesterday when a gunman in Iraqi army uniform opened fire near Mosul.
Richard Haass, president of the US Council on Foreign Relations, who returned from a visit to Iraq last week, said: "It is obvious there are still multiple faultlines in society. In my view, Iraq and the US are going to have to adjust the timelines and leave a residual force of tens of thousands beyond 2011."
The resistance council recently issued a call to disaffected Sons of Iraq to take up arms against US and Iraqi troops after the Government of Nouri al-Maliki failed to integrate them into the national security forces.
Many fighters have abandoned their security posts, allowing militant groups to fill the gap.
Abu Omar, the leader of a Sunni Awakening militia in northern Baghdad, said more than 50 out of 175 fighters had quit.
The US had been paying nearly 100,000 Sons of Iraq to participate in its security "surge", but handed over responsibility for their welfare to the Iraqi Government last month.
Their pay has since dried up. Only 5000 members of the Awakening have been employed by the Iraqi security forces. Ginger Cruz, the US's deputy inspector-general for Iraq reconstruction, said disillusioned Sunnis could join forces with al-Qa'ida as well as resistance groups.
"The Sons of Iraq provided a critical turning point for Iraq, so the question now becomes: what will the Iraqi Government do with them?" Ms Cruz said.
"In fragile states, you need to take unemployed young men with access to weapons and give them something to do to ensure they don't turn to al-Qa'ida or other groups."
Local Sunni leaders have been quitting their posts, disillusioned with the Government.
Khalaf Ibrahim recently resigned as leader of Huwaija council, near Kirkuk in northern Iraq.
"Our members have become targets for al-Qa'ida and the government security forces at the same time," he said.
Mr Haass, a critic of the Iraq war who served in the administrations of George Bush and George W. Bush, said: "Some people are hedging their bets and moving in the direction of 'alternative loyalties'." Mr Obama may now become a hostage to events, Mr Haass fears.
"This administration has so much on its plate in terms of foreign policy that the last thing it needs is an Iraq that unravels. If it has to do a bit more than it wanted, that could be a pretty good investment."
Source: The Australian
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