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US military arming Iraqi Sunni groups
US military commanders in Iraq are planning a new counterinsurgency strategy to arm Sunni Arabs who have promising to fight militants linked with Al Qaeda, The New York Times reported on its website on Sunday.Citing unnamed US commanders, the newspaper said the strategy has been successfully tested in Anbar province and US commanders have held talks with Sunni groups in at least four areas of central and north-central Iraq where the insurgency has been the strongest. The US commanders said that in some cases, the Sunni groups are suspected of involvement in past attacks on American troops or of having links to such groups, the report added. Some of these groups, according to the commanders, have been provided usually through Iraqi military units allied with the US with arms, ammunition, cash, fuel and supplies. Officers, who have engaged in what they call outreach to the Sunni groups, said many of them have had past links to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia but grew disillusioned with the Islamic militantsÂ’ extremist tactics, particularly the suicide bombings that have killed thousands of Iraqi civilians, the paper said. In exchange for US backing, these Sunni groups have agreed to fight Al Qaeda and halt attacks on US forces, according to The Times. Posted by: Fred 2007-06-12 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=190526 |