Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (19517)	6/12/2007 4:29:51 AM
From: Elroy Jetson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217560

Does the US give guns and ammunition to Sunni's and tell them to kill? . . . Well, . . . yes, and yes. Kansas City Star -- June 11, 2007 kansascity.com Questionable Sunni groups will receive munitions Arms game in Iraq is a misguided tack The American situation in Iraq has apparently deteriorated to the “let’s try anything” phase. That’s a dangerous point in any project, a time when hope and desperation often trump common sense. Almost inexplicably, U.S. forces have begun arming Sunni militias that have been allied to al-Qaida and that have, in at least some cases, been fighting American troops. The theory is that hostile Sunni groups, supposedly disillusioned with al-Qaida violence . . . . Well, let’s pause right there for a moment. These groups didn’t realize that al-Qaida was a pretty violent organization? Really? Anyway, American officials hope that these supposedly disenchanted allies of al-Qaida are now ready to fight against it — for the right price in cash, weapons and other supplies. Obvious questions arise about this plan, and the explanations from its supporters are hardly reassuring. How confident are American commanders and the Bush administration that these “disillusioned” groups will really change sides and stick with us? Not that confident, apparently. The New York Times reports that top American commanders in Iraq gave only their “cautious approval.” American forces are recording the serial numbers on the weapons so that if they are misused, at least we will know about it. But by then, some U.S. soldiers may have paid a high price for the mistake. Similar strategies have backfired elsewhere, including Vietnam. And in Iraq, arming militia groups represents a sharp turn in American policy, which has emphasized rebuilding that nation’s army and has demanded for years that private armies disband. Embracing the “militias rule” concept of dispute resolution would seem to undermine the struggling democracy that we are trying to support. Why would Iraqis pay any attention to their national government when militia leaders enjoy veto power over its decisions? The Bush administration needs to quickly reconsider this plan before it does further damage. .