Posted on 09/13/2014 10:00:29 PM PDT by Citizen Zed
Watban al-Jabbouri is the kind of man that the Iraqi and U.S. governments are depending on to turn the tide against the Islamic State fighters who have seized a huge swath of territory in this country.
“We’ve begged other tribes in our areas to join, but they either sit aside and do nothing or they are with them,” he said, referring to the Islamic State.
While details on the new national guard are being finalized, current discussions center on creating Sunni and Shiite units to serve in their respective areas of influence.
But the Shiite-led government faces huge challenges in winning support from the Sunni community and in subjugating Shiite militias that are leading the fight against the Islamic State, experts say.
Meanwhile, Kurds have flatly rejected suggestions that the pesh merga forces in their semiautonomous northern region be incorporated into the enterprise.
Jabbouri doesn’t oppose the plan to build a national guard force. Anything that might bring salaries or ammunition to his tribesmen is worth trying, he said.
Distrust of the Shiite militias runs deep in many Sunni areas. On a palm-lined Arab Jubour street that once was laced with roadside bombs targeting U.S. troops, a shopkeeper who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for his safety said it was no secret that the Islamic State had sleeper cells in the neighborhood.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
it was no secret that the Islamic State had sleeper cells in the neighborhood.
Heck there are several in our government...
It seems worth a try considering the sectarian situation there.
For every two National Guard units, they’re going to need one Supervising National Guard unit to keep the other two from abusing their authority. Otherwise, you’re just going to go from Shiite soldiers abusing Sunni villagers to Sunni soldiers abusing villagers in the adjoining Sunni village. These dudes have no cultural history of peaceful coexistence.
> the Shiite-led government faces huge challenges in winning support from the Sunni community and in subjugating Shiite militias that are leading the fight against the Islamic State, experts say. Meanwhile, Kurds have flatly rejected suggestions that the pesh merga forces in their semiautonomous northern region be incorporated into the enterprise.
Iraq PM Orders Halt to Shelling of Civilian Areas (Obama definitely loses Iraq)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3203804/posts
Iraq PM says halting air strikes on IS-held civilian areas
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3203649/posts
ISIS sets fire to Iraq’s largest oil refinery
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3203751/posts
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