'If there is no change in three months, there will be war again'

[cal04]

By Patrick Cockburn in Fallujah
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/if-there-is-no-change-in-three-months-there-will-be-war-again-774847.html

A crucial Iraqi ally of the United States in its recent successes in the country is threatening to withdraw his support and allow al-Qa'ida to return if his fighters are not incorporated into the Iraqi army and police.

"If there is no change in three months there will be war again," said Abu Marouf, the commander of 13,000 fighters who formerly fought the Americans. He and his men switched sides last year to battle al-Qa'ida and defeated it in its main stronghold in and around Fallujah.

"If the Americans think they can use us to crush al-Qa'ida and then push us to one side, they are mistaken," Abu Marouf told The Independent in an interview in a scantily furnished villa beside an abandoned cemetery near the village of Khandari outside Fallujah. He said that all he and his tribal following had to do was stand aside and al-Qa'ida's fighters would automatically come back. If they did so he might have to ally himself to a resurgent al-Qa'ida in order to "protect myself and my men".

(snip)
His threat is highly dangerous for the US and Iraqi government, neither of which made any headway in ending the Sunni insurgency against the US occupation for four years until the tribes of Anbar, the province in which Fallujah lies, turned against al-Qa'ida. They formed the Awakening movement, known in Arabic as al-Sahwah, of which Abu Marouf, whose full name is Karim Ismail Hassan al-Zubai, is a leading member.

[Warren Stupidity]

1. use us to crush al-Qa'ida and then push us to one side, they are mistaken

Abu Marouf obviously doesn't understand that this is exactly what the americans are up to. He has been played.

[DCKit]

3. AND, as long as there is Terra (and oil) in Iraq, we will stay.

If they want us out, they've got to take control and stop the violence themselves. However, that's a doubtful proposition because, before you know it, every independent group trying to keep peace in their own area would be branded a terrorist organization. Grandstanding speeches like this aren't going to help either: He's providing the maladministration with all the talking points and excuses they need to "stay the course".

It's lose-lose as long as DickieGeorge is running the show with a compliant Congress covering their asses.

[madeline_con]

2. Karim Ismail Hassan al-Zubai ...

AKA Abu Marouf.

It's a family thing...

Salam Al Zubai, Deputy Prime Minister in Iraq.

Muhammad Sulayman Shunaythir al-Zubai, also known as Abu Abdullah, mainly worked from western Baghdad to just east of Falluja. General Bergner described him as “an experienced bomb maker and attack planner who coordinated numerous attacks on coalition and Iraqi forces over the past three years.”

The military contends that he was directly involved in at least five attacks on Iraqi civilians or American forces, including attacks on voters in the December 2005 referendum on Iraq’s Constitution. In early 2006, he lost his left arm below the elbow in a battle with American troops and moved his base of operations north, to Salahuddin Province.

He was killed in his car, the military said, after trying to evade American forces.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/27/world/middleeast/27iraq.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[mwb970]

4. We are only given half of a Friedman Unit to bring change!

How strange to see mention of a three-month deadline for something new to happen in Iraq, after so many years of hearing the standard "the next six months will make the difference" BS. Is time itself speeding up?

[Doctor_J]

5. Winning the hearts and minds

More candy and flowers from the Iraqis.

[bemildred]

6. There is war now, and there will continue to be war. nt

[gateley]

7. My same old cry - Biden Exit Strategy. It just passed in the Senate AGAIN, and

it would be an attempt to bring about some "change". All we can do is try - there are no other options being offered other than more of the same, and we can see how well that's working.