Senior U.S. military official warns of al-Qaeda’s return

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, the commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, warned that al-Qaeda could get a fresh breath of life if the transition is mishandled. That could either happen unintentionally because of poor logistics, or in the event that Iraq’s Shiite government shows little enthusiasm for legitimizing tens of thousands of armed Sunnis, many of whom are former insurgents. “This could likely be al-Qaeda’s last big chance here in Baghdad to try and take down a key element of our security,” Hammond told Iraqi officers at a recent meeting to discuss logistics for the first Iraqi-managed pay period, which starts today. In a potentially dangerous phase of the transfer of powers from the U.S. military, Iraq’s government will begin paying salaries this week to more than 51,000 members of Sunni neighborhood patrol groups, according to the USA Today newspaper. Known as the Sons of Iraq, or Awakening Councils, the U.S.-created program helped turn the tide against the insurgency by offering steady employment to disaffected Sunni Arabs in exchange for help battling al-Qaeda and other militant groups. The U.S. signed control of the groups over to Iraqis on Oct. 1, but kept responsibility for distributing the $300 monthly pay, wrote Charles Levinson in an article. The Sons of Iraq in Baghdad represent a bigger force in the capital than the Iraqi army and national police combined. Before handing over command of U.S. forces in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus in August credited the group with making an “enormous contribution to improved security.” He also criticized the Iraqi government for dragging its feet: It had promised to give the Sons of Iraq jobs in the security forces. Instead, the Iraqi government has arrested some of its leaders. “We are all worried about the future, after the Americans are no longer responsible for us,” said Abu Ibrahim, a Sons of Iraq leader in Baghdad’s Amariya neighborhood. “We want the Iraqi government to make their intentions clear. We don’t want our sacrifice to be for nothing.” Al-Qaeda has keyed in on those fears as it tries to regain influence, according to the Iraqi army’s top intelligence officer in Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Mehdi Falih. “The Sons of Iraq are worried that we won’t pay them, and al-Qaeda is exploiting this to recruit more people,” he told his brigade commanders. “If we don’t get this right, some Sons of Iraq may decide to go back to al-Qaeda.” Last week, 2,750 Sons of Iraq entered the police academy, according to Hammond; an additional 6,000 are in the pipeline. Though it’s only a small fraction of the total number, Hammond was relieved. “It finally happened,” he said. “We actively sought out the key decision makers in the government and asked them to demonstrate they’re going to do what they said they’re going to do. We got a big breakthrough on this.” Baghdad, where more than half of the Sons of Iraq are based, is the first province to see responsibility for the program handed over to the Iraqis. “How Baghdad goes, the remainder of Iraq will go,” Brig. Gen. Robin Swan said. Iraqi battalion commanders throughout Baghdad will have to coordinate the logistics of paying the Sons of Iraq, who are divided into 35 independent neighborhood groups. It’s a new challenge for Iraqi commanders who have always left the logistics of their troops’ payday to a specialized unit within the Iraqi army. In a packed auditorium inside one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces, the Iraqi army’s senior commanders in Baghdad went through the payday process step by step. There appeared to be countless possible snags. “This is going to require great effort to get right,” said Maj Gen Abdel Amir, the commander of the Iraqi army’s 6th Division, which is responsible for western Baghdad, where 80% of the city’s Sons of Iraq are located. “We have … to assure the people that we are serious about