So this is "Plan B"...
From the NY Times: "BAGHDAD, June 10 — With the four-month-old increase in American troops showing only modest success in curbing insurgent attacks, American commanders are turning to another strategy that they acknowledge is fraught with risk: arming Sunni Arab groups that have promised to fight militants linked with Al Qaeda who have been their allies in the past.
....In some cases, the American commanders say, the Sunni groups are suspected of involvement in past attacks on American troops or of having links to such groups. Some of these groups, they say, have been provided, usually through Iraqi military units allied with the Americans, with arms, ammunition, cash, fuel and supplies.
....But critics of the strategy, including some American officers, say it could amount to the Americans’ arming both sides in a future civil war.
....In exchange for American backing, these officials say, the Sunni groups have agreed to fight Al Qaeda and halt attacks on American units. Commanders who have undertaken these negotiations say that in some cases, Sunni groups have agreed to alert American troops to the location of roadside bombs and other lethal booby traps.[..]"
I saw it on CNN too -- the US military confirmed that it is arming Sunni insurgent factions so they can help us fight al-Qaida.
Okay, now let me get this straight --we are supporting the Shiite gov't in fighting "insurgents" that are Sunnis...and we are arming the Sunnis to fight al-Qaida .. and probably to defend themselves against the Shiite death squads that we arm and support??
It's been a short way baby from not talking to your enemy to making nice and giving them AK47's and grenades. A young soldier told the CNN reporter he couldn't get used to taking last month's enemy on patrol with his unit, seeing them armed with rifles and ammunition .. because they have American blood on their hands. But he figured if the new plan worked out, and they knew where to look for bad guys, bombs, etc., then some American lives could be saved.
I sure hope so .. because where are we going to run to hide our faces if those Sunni insurgents turn those weapons against US? ...
