Posted on 11/26/2006 7:41:43 PM PST by Bob Hyneman
Iraqi Government taking on militias Tuesday, 21 November 2006
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, spokesman, Multi-National Force - Iraq. BAGHDAD — Politics is the best means available to the Iraqi Government and Coalition to deal with armed militias in the country, the spokesman for Multi-National Force – Iraq said during a press conference here Monday.
Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV, spokesman, MNF-I, said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is dealing with political leaders in the country to disarm the militias, and Coalition officials are supporting that effort.
The goal, he said, is that the militias would disband and rely on the local Iraqi Security Force for protection and maintaining order. Militias that won’t engage in a political solution will be met with force, the general said.
“There's going to be those elements that are irreconcilable, that aren't going to be able to work through the political process, and those will be dealt with in a kinetic manner with direct action,” Caldwell said.
The prime minister is moving forward with a reconciliation process, but this does not mean the militias have a free hand in the meantime, Caldwell said.
“If there is somebody operating outside of the law, if there is somebody who is conducting illegal activity and we're aware of it, then we will take the action immediately to stop that and to apprehend or detain whoever is associated with that,” the general said. “Nobody will operate outside the law.”
The Iraqi Government is working to eradicate militia influence inside the security force structure. In the Ministry of the Interior, 3,000 people were fired for their ties to militias. Some of them are being criminally charged.
“They're moving forward and addressing some of the people within that ministry that are not swearing allegiance to first and instead maybe in fact have allegiance to some other element,” Caldwell said.
Interior Ministry forces are going through refresher training. The ministry pulled the 8th Brigade of the 2nd National Police Division offline and put it through training. Interior replaced the entire leadership of the unit. The move, Caldwell said, is a step forward to show that the government will not allow sectarian bias to exist within the Police Force.
(Taken from American Forces Press Service Jim Garamone)
Hearts and minds
hearts and minds
hearts and minds
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7116&Itemid=18
In July, a poll by the nonprofit International Republican Institute found 94 percent of Iraqis said they support a “unity” government. Seventy-eight percent opposed Iraq being segregated by religion or ethnicity. Even in Baghdad, where sectarian violence is heightened, 76 percent opposed ethnic separation. According to a September WorldPublicOpinion.org poll, 97 percent of Iraqis said they “strongly disapprove” of attacks against Iraqi civilians, and 96 percent of Iraqis disapproved of attacks on Iraqi Security Forces. And in a State Department poll released Oct. 5, large majorities of Iraqi youth in six regions surveyed agreed “It is essential that Iraq remains one nation.” These findings confirm that Iraqis want to live in a unified, multi-ethnic country.
This is excellent news. It's likely to end in a fight, but those who managed to keep their jobs will not be likely to change sides.
These people are only good for brutal dictatorial rule.
We've lost.
“They're moving forward and addressing some of the people within that ministry that are not swearing allegiance to first and instead maybe in fact have allegiance to some other element,” Caldwell said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please God, let this be so ... protect and guide them to peaceful calm and an end to the savagery.
Instead of firing them, how about imprisoning them? What the police/military/civil sector needs is a good old Soviet era spying hierarchy that can root out those disloyal to the government.
Ping-O
You beat me to it. I was just about to ping you. :)
In a country with high unemployment, a government job is a gem to be treasured. Losing that job is not just bad for your family economics, it's devestating for your social standing as well.
It's a step in the right direction, and I'm sure we tightened the thumbscrews to get him to do even this much. But tomorrow is another day. He made his gesture to us today; who knows what tomorrow will bring?
This and a million other stories proving that the President was right, the Iraq war is being won, and that America did the right thing, no details at 11.
This braodcast is sponsored by the Democrat National Committee, you are too ignorant and selfish for freedom.
Check out the date of the original article: Tuesday, 21 November 2006
He'd better stick with it, he had a very unpleasent experience today in Sadar City when they threw rocks at his convoy.
bump
God help this man survive the backlash to this purge.
Yeah, I caught that when I linked. Obviously the MNF has been hiding this from Reuters and AP for five days. Must have been a NYT leak that tipped off the media....
What December list of benchmarks? This is the first time I hear about it. Can you please explain more. Thank you.
WTF? Execute them for Christ sake.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.