Shrewd awakening - US aid for Sunni militias improves Iraqi security

The Awakening groups and their 'Sons of Iraq' movements have reduced the operational freedom and recruitment potential of Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Shia insurgents in areas of Iraq. Michael Knights assesses the impact and future prospects of these grassroots movements.

When the United States Department of Defense issued its report on Iraq to Congress in June 2008, the Pentagon identified the emergence of the 'Sons of Iraq' police auxiliaries as "one of the most significant developments in the past 18 months in Iraq". Sons of Iraq, a Sunni paramilitary group the US pays to help to pacify Baghdad and other regions, contributes many unique capabilities to the counter-insurgency campaign, such as a deep knowledge of local geography, people and insurgent activities. It is able to blanket large areas with checkpoints, seriously reducing insurgent's ability to move personnel, munition caches and car bombs. Perhaps most importantly, Sons of Iraq membership is drawn from the ranks of former insurgents and therefore denies a large recruiting pool to the insurgency.

Image: Awakening Council members stand guard over arrested Al-Qaeda in Iraq suspects in central Samarra, Iraq, in 2008 (PA Photos) 168 of 3,454 words