Anbar Salvation Council head skips town? with 75 $$Million given by US:

[rodeodance]

Anbar Salvation Council head skips town?

This story from al-Malaf is currently the talk of the forums:

Sitar Abu Risha, head of the Anbar Salvation Council, has allegedly fled Iraq with $75 million that the Americans had given him to fight al-Qaeda. The story links his flight to the near-collapse of the Anbar Salvation Council over infighting among its leadership (which jibes with recent reporting in the Washington Post). It claims that he simply never distributed the American cash to the fighters, who are now threatening to go on strike if they don't get paid. Seeing as how the Anbar Salvation Council has for months now been portrayed as the great American hope in the battle against al-Qaeda, if this story turns out to be true - a big if, given the shaky sourcing to this point - then it would be a rather embarrassing fiasco. "The Anbar model", indeed. I haven't seen this officially reported anywhere, and right now I have no way of checking its accuracy - but thought it worth passing on a juicy rumour just in case it turns out to be true.

Posted on June 20, 2007 at 01:27 PM | Permalink

also:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/10/AR2007061001453.html