Has Bush cut a deal with Iraq's insurgents?

[quaoar]

Found this intriguing item at Professor Juan Cole's blog:

http://www.juancole.com/

Iraqi guerrillas were especially upset about the bombing of potential police recruits in Ramadi, since some of the men belonged to the Sunni Arab guerrilla movement. The guerrillas had given them permission to enlist under a secret agreement they had reached with the Americans via the mediation of tribal chieftains, stipulating that the guerrillas would dominate the security services, the police and army in the Sunni Arab provinces, as an element in an over-all settlement. The guerrillas would be able to place their men in the security services of Anbar, Salahuddin and Ninevah provinces. In return for their accepting this deal, the Sunni Arab guerrillas would also get the release of their commanders from American prisons, along with the release of some Baathist prisoners from the former regime. (Saddam and some of his worst henchmen are excluded from this deal.)

If this agreement shows signs of working out, the two sides will sign a wide-ranging formal political agreement.

[incapsulated]

1. NYT Article:

January 7, 2006
Americans Said to Meet Rebels, Exploiting Rift
By DEXTER FILKINS
and SABRINA TAVERNISE

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 6 - American officials are talking with local Iraqi insurgent leaders to exploit a rift that has opened between homegrown insurgents and radical groups like Al Qaeda, and to draw the local leaders into the political process, according to a Western diplomat, an Iraqi political leader and an Iraqi insurgent leader.

Clashes between Iraqi groups and Al Qaeda have broken out in several cities across the Sunni Triangle, including Taji, Yusefiya, Qaim and Ramadi, and they appear to have intensified in recent months, according to interviews with insurgents and with American and Iraqi officials.

In an interview on Friday, a Western diplomat who supports the talks said that the Americans had opened face-to-face discussions with insurgents in the field, and that they were communicating with senior insurgent leaders through intermediaries.

*snip*

He said an early result of those talks came in December, when the Americans released Satam Quaood, a former associate of Mr. Hussein, as a "good-will gesture" to persuade the insurgents to cooperate. Mr. Quaood was released by the Americans, along with more than 20 other detainees, over the objections of the Shiite-led government.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/07/international/middleeast/07insurgents.html?pagewanted=print