FoxNews.com - Report: Sunni Allies in Iraq Quit to Rejoin Al QaedaHundreds of members of the Awakening Councils, a collection of United States-allied Sunni sheiks and their militia forces, have quit or been dismissed from their positions in the past few months, the New York Times reported Saturday.
Iraqi government officials say that the fighters, known as Sahwa, have left as a result of an intensive recruiting campaign by the Sunni insurgency and rejoined Al Qaeda. Many have extensive knowledge of the U.S. military, the Times said, adding that it is possible that thousands of the fighters who are working for the government are simultaneously assisting the insurgency.
That's generally how it works, yes.Right, and like there was any other viable solution to such a fundamental problem.
What the hell are we supposed to do, occupy Iraq indefinitely? Annex it? Kill millions of innocents and pave the whole country?
All of the above.Which one? I asked about 3 distinct possibilities.
All of the above.
I've never heard anyone suggest a better option.
Why so spineless? It's a bit silly to whine about how people don't like you, or how people want to hurt you. That's politics, baby.I've got a better option.
We get the hell out of there and stop making targets out of ourselves.
We return only if Iraq represents a threat to our nation, and do so only to destroy the threat and leave again.
Yeah, I don't see the point in wrapping the country or our soldiers in bubble wrap.This isn't about wanting people to like me.
This is about not wanting my countrymen walking around there with targets on their back, and also not wanting us to commit mass murder.
The solution is simple: Leave, until such time as Iraq poses a threat to our security.
I sort of agree on both counts. After all, armies aren't very useful when they're being hampered by politics on the homefront. Whining about civilians and exit strategies (already!) is going to hurt any war effort. We could definitely install a puppet, though, I don't see why not.Well, in the last several years we've failed to bring the resistance to its knees, mainly because they're not dumb enough to use tactics we're accustomed to.
We can't really install a puppet, or it won't last. We also can't afford to rule Iraq from thousands of miles away, otherwise we'll end up suffering the kinds of losses and setbacks and frustrations we are now for the foreseeable future.
We could definitely install a puppet, though, I don't see why not.
As for the cost: war is fairly cheap.
Right, because there is no such thing as deterrence, and there's no possible way to silence dissent. Seriously, it's not that hard to do. It might collapse eventually, but then we could just repeat the process.Because neither the people of Iraq nor Iraq's neighbors would tolerate it. The puppet wouldn't survive a week.
I forget exactly how much the war costs, but I do remember that it was hardly a number worth blinking at. Wars don't break banks like real estate speculation.Um, really?
Cheap compared to what?
Right, because there is no such thing as deterrence, and there's no possible way to silence dissent. Seriously, it's not that hard to do. It might collapse eventually, but then we could just repeat the process.
I forget exactly how much the war costs, but I do remember that it wasn hardly a number worth blinking at. Wars don't break banks like real estate speculation.
Armed troops mean nothing when you don't have the will to deal with opposition ruthlessly.If having tens of thousands of heavily armed troops in the country doesn't serve as a deterrent in general, how do you figure we'd deter someone from murdering or overthrowing our puppet specifically?
Yeeeeeeeeeeeah. Come back and make that argument again when you not only remember how much it costs, but also have a reputable source you can reference.
The news story is pretty vague, so its hard to really understand what its specifically talking about. However I do know that the Iraqi Army is roughly 200,000 strong, and then there's the Iraqi Police, so I think they can handle a few hundred men with some training.
Not all that surprising. The US military bankrolled the Sahwa in Anbar province as a mercenary force. I imagine these monetary stipends have been reduced dramatically, or even terminated, with the US exit.FoxNews.com - Report: Sunni Allies in Iraq Quit to Rejoin Al Qaeda
Will be interesting to see how the Government handles the defection.
As they were trained by Western Soldiers, no doubt many will have working knowledge of how they operate.
Right, and like there was any other viable solution to such a fundamental problem.
What the hell are we supposed to do, occupy Iraq indefinitely? Annex it? Kill millions of innocents and pave the whole country?
Well Obama sent 100,000 US troops to finish off the last 100 Al-Queda in Afghanistan. Never heard you say anything against an Obama policy so you must have thought that was the correct ratio of US to Al-Queda fighters.
This isn't about wanting people to like me.
This is about not wanting my countrymen walking around there with targets on their backs, and also not wanting us to commit mass murder.
The solution is simple: Leave, until such time as Iraq poses a threat to our security.
Obama didn't send 100,000 troops to Afghanistan. Stop trying to prop that idiot up with untruths.
Yep! We'll be going back in a few years.
Looks like that political solution that was touted as the answer to ending the war isn't going to work out so well.
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