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Wednesday, 25 June 2014

In Iraq, former militia program eyed for new fight

FILE - In this Oct. 6, 2010, file photo, an armed Sunni militiaman wearing an Iraqi Army patch, left, and a U.S. Army soldier patrol in Samarra, 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq. The man is part of Samarra's Sahwa _ Arabic for Awakening, or commonly known as the Sons of Iraq, who are former Sunni insurgents now allied with U.S. and Iraqi security forces to provide security. The Obama administration is reaching back to an Iraq War program as a guide to keep disgruntled Sunnis from joining a rampant new insurgency. U.S. officials hope to persuade Sunni militiamen known as Sahwa, or Awakening Councils, to fight back against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as they did nearly 10 years ago against al-Qaida. The Awakening Councils sided with U.S. troops and were a pivotal force in defeating al-Qaida during the war. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo) BAGHDAD (AP) — They were known as the Sahwa, or the Awakening Councils — Sunni militiamen who took extraordinary risks to side with U.S. troops in the fight against al-Qaida during the Iraq War. Once heralded as a pivotal step in the defeat of the bloody insurgency, the Sahwa later were pushed aside by Iraq's Shiite-led government, starved of political support and money needed to remain a viable security force.








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