Ruthless U.S. tactics are propelling Iraq toward civil war

[paineinthearse]

http://zmagsite.zmag.org/Images/gupta0505.html

Z Magazine Online
May 2005 Volume 18 Number 5

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Special Report

Unraveling Iraq’s Secret Militias
Ruthless U.S. tactics are propelling the country toward civil war

By A.K. Gupta

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In the U.S. war against Iraq it appears that the Pentagon may be gaining the upper hand against the armed resistance, but it is doing so at the cost of creating the conditions for civil war. The clearest indicator of a diminished insurgency comes from the number of U.S. casualties, which have declined by 75 percent since their peak of 126 combat deaths in November 2004. Part of that is probably due to sweeping thousands of Sunni Arab males off the street—Iraqis imprisoned under U.S. control have more than doubled since last October to 10,500. But even more ruthless methods may be having a greater effect on squeezing the insurgency. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal from February 16, numerous “pop-up militias” thousands strong are proliferating in Iraq. Not only are many of these shadowy militias linked to Iraqi politicians, but the Pentagon is arming, training, and funding them for use in counter-insurgency operations.

Most disturbing, one militia in particular—the “Special Police Commandos”—is being used extensively and has been singled out by a U.S. general for conducting death squad strikes known as the “Salvador option.” The Police Commandos also appear to be a reconstituted Hussein security force operating under the same revived government body, the General Security Directorate, that was formerly tasked with suppressing internal dissent. At the highest levels, White House officials consider the Police Commandos as the leading force against the insurgency. In hearings before the Senate Appropriations Committee on February 16 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the commandos are among “forces that are going to have the greatest leverage on suppressing and eliminating the insurgency.”

Greg Jaffe, the Journal reporter, identified at least six such militias, one with “several thousand soldiers” lavishly armed with “rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, mortar tubes and lots of ammunition.” Yet these militias owe their allegiance not to the Iraqi people or government, but to their self-appointed leaders and associated politicians, such as interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Even the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Gen. John P. Abizaid, admitted in testimony before Congress on March 1 that such militias are “destabilizing.” Of these militias, at least three are linked to Allawi. Jaffe writes, “First came the Muthana Brigade, a unit formed by the order of…Allawi.” The second is the Defenders of Khadamiya, referring to a Shiite shrine on the outskirts of Baghdad, which appears to be “closely aligned with prominent Shiite cleric Hussein al Sadr.” Al Sadr ran on Allawi’s ticket in the January elections.

A third militia, the Special Police Commandos, is led by Gen. Adnan Thabit, who participated in the disastrous 1996 coup against Saddam Hussein that Allawi coordinated. Thabit was jailed and subsequently released shortly before the 2003 U.S. invasion. He is also the uncle of Iraq’s interim minister of the interior, under which the Commandos operate. Thabit told the Armed Forces Press Service last October that the Commandos are drawn from “police who have previous experience fighting terrorism and also people who received special training under the former regime” of Saddam Hussein. A report from October 20, 2004, also quotes U.S. Army Col. James H. Coffman Jr., who specifies that Police Commandos are “former special forces and personnel….”

much more (long article)

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A.K. Gupta is a staff member of the Indypendent.

edit: added link

[blogbear]

1. The US never seems to be content until everyone and everything

spirals out of control..

[paineinthearse]

2. Related article

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3603730&mesg_id=3608830