[roberto]

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 02, 2007
15:55 MECCA TIME, 12:55 GMT
Iraq's many armies


Four years ago the fighting in Iraq was just beginning. The armed group al-Qaeda in Iraq did not even exist and Sunni and Shia groups were working together against the US-led forces.

Three years ago, sectarian divisions escalated into a battle some believe has reached civil war proportions.

Now the fighters have turned against each other.

This year has seen Shia infighting on the streets of Iraqi cities such as Karbala and Sunni armed groups fighting to keep al-Qaeda out of their regions.

In a series of reports, Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid looks at the new reality of Iraq's many armies.

Part One - Sunni armed groups

Sunni armed groups are a complicated web of alliances of Iraqi nationalists, Islamists, former Iraqi army officers and a few Baathists.

For the past four years, the groups have become better organised and more popular among disaffected Sunnis. They see them as a legitimate resistance which also protects civilians from foreign troops and Shia militia death squads.

These days most of the Sunni fighters are Iraqis, and that means the US and Iraqi governments have no choice but to talk to them.

Sources say negotiations are under way, but until Sunni fighters feel their role in the future is recognised they are unlikely to give up their arms.

Part Two - Shia militias

The conflict between Iraq's Shia rivals has been ongoing since 2003. The Jaish al-Mahdi, or Mahdi Army, is loyal to Shia leader Muqtada al Sadr. Said to have 60,000 men in its ranks, it is by far the biggest militia in Iraq.

Its rival, the Badr organisation, is the military wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, previously known as the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. This influential Shia party was formed in Iran during the presidency of Saddam Hussein and its leaders were exultant after the US invasion.

Part Three - Iraq's security forces

In the remote desert areas of Iraq, US soldiers are training Iraqi recruits to form the nation's new army and police force.

But outside the cocoon of a training camp, the newly graduated security forces must tackle one of the most challenging environments in the world.

The US is currently allied with some tribes in its fight against al-Qaeda. Incorporating Sunnis would ease some of the sectarian tensions.

But the main question remains: When will the security forces be really able to deal with the challenges of Iraq?

Part Four - The US army

They were supposedly welcomed as liberators who would bring freedom and democracy to Iraq.

But the most powerful army in the world was not ready for handmade road-side bombs that have killed hundreds of soldiers so far and maimed thousands more.

It blamed all the attacks in these early stages on al-Qaeda and disgruntled members of Saddam's former government.

But now, on the eve of the report by General David Petraeus, head of US forces in Iraq, into the success of the recent troop "surge", the US presence in Iraq is already at the heart of the presidential debate in the US and withdrawing or staying has become a national debate.

Part Five - Al-Qaeda

The Bush administration is building its new case to stay in Iraq as a war against al-Qaeda.

However, it is not the largest group fighting today, nor is it the one that carries out most attacks - only 15 per cent in the first half of 2007 according to the US military.

However, it is behind the vast majority of devastating car bombs and suicide attacks which fuel the sectarian war.

Source: Al Jazeera

[roberto]

Originally Posted by roberto

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 02, 2007
15:55 MECCA TIME, 12:55 GMT
Iraq's many armies


Four years ago the fighting in Iraq was just beginning. The armed group al-Qaeda in Iraq did not even exist and Sunni and Shia groups were working together against the US-led forces.

Three years ago, sectarian divisions escalated into a battle some believe has reached civil war proportions.

Now the fighters have turned against each other.

This year has seen Shia infighting on the streets of Iraqi cities such as Karbala and Sunni armed groups fighting to keep al-Qaeda out of their regions.

In a series of reports, Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid looks at the new reality of Iraq's many armies.

Part One - Sunni armed groups

Sunni armed groups are a complicated web of alliances of Iraqi nationalists, Islamists, former Iraqi army officers and a few Baathists.

For the past four years, the groups have become better organised and more popular among disaffected Sunnis. They see them as a legitimate resistance which also protects civilians from foreign troops and Shia militia death squads.

These days most of the Sunni fighters are Iraqis, and that means the US and Iraqi governments have no choice but to talk to them.

Sources say negotiations are under way, but until Sunni fighters feel their role in the future is recognised they are unlikely to give up their arms.

Part Two - Shia militias

The conflict between Iraq's Shia rivals has been ongoing since 2003. The Jaish al-Mahdi, or Mahdi Army, is loyal to Shia leader Muqtada al Sadr. Said to have 60,000 men in its ranks, it is by far the biggest militia in Iraq.

Its rival, the Badr organisation, is the military wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, previously known as the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. This influential Shia party was formed in Iran during the presidency of Saddam Hussein and its leaders were exultant after the US invasion.

Part Three - Iraq's security forces

In the remote desert areas of Iraq, US soldiers are training Iraqi recruits to form the nation's new army and police force.

But outside the cocoon of a training camp, the newly graduated security forces must tackle one of the most challenging environments in the world.

The US is currently allied with some tribes in its fight against al-Qaeda. Incorporating Sunnis would ease some of the sectarian tensions.

But the main question remains: When will the security forces be really able to deal with the challenges of Iraq?

Part Four - The US army

They were supposedly welcomed as liberators who would bring freedom and democracy to Iraq.

But the most powerful army in the world was not ready for handmade road-side bombs that have killed hundreds of soldiers so far and maimed thousands more.

It blamed all the attacks in these early stages on al-Qaeda and disgruntled members of Saddam's former government.

But now, on the eve of the report by General David Petraeus, head of US forces in Iraq, into the success of the recent troop "surge", the US presence in Iraq is already at the heart of the presidential debate in the US and withdrawing or staying has become a national debate.

Part Five - Al-Qaeda

The Bush administration is building its new case to stay in Iraq as a war against al-Qaeda.

However, it is not the largest group fighting today, nor is it the one that carries out most attacks - only 15 per cent in the first half of 2007 according to the US military.

However, it is behind the vast majority of devastating car bombs and suicide attacks which fuel the sectarian war.

Source: Al Jazeera

Muslims killing Muslims and nobody comments!

[FMROMMEL]

Originally Posted by roberto

Muslims killing Muslims and nobody comments!

Nope!..........

[Variable]

Hmmm... I think nobody is responding because it's not really news.

[MossadConspiracy]

welcome to 2 years ago

[roberto]

Originally Posted by Variable

Hmmm... I think nobody is responding because it's not really news.

But it's still happening , don't Muslims care about it?

[roberto]

Originally Posted by MossadConspiracy

welcome to 2 years ago

But it stilll happening, guess you don't care

[Jamroll]

This has been happening for a while, but ultimately the Americans are to blame. If they hadn't gone in, a lot of these groups wouldn't have seen the light of day.

[FMROMMEL]

Originally Posted by Jamroll

This has been happening for a while, but ultimately the Americans are to blame. If they hadn't gone in, a lot of these groups wouldn't have seen the light of day.

Yes, you are correct the americans are at fault for this mess(at least I can admit when we have done wrong). But there is no excuse for all the car bombs ect against innocent people at all by the insurgents,militias,al queida either. If none of that violence happened the US would have been long gone by now.

[Jamroll]

Originally Posted by FMROMMEL

Yes, you are correct the americans are at fault for this mess(at least I can admit when we have done wrong). But there is no excuse for all the car bombs ect against innocent people at all by the insurgents,militias,al queida either. If none of that violence happened the US would have been long gone by now.

Yeah there's a lot of chaos. But I guess that's what happens when you smash a piggybank open in order to get the money... the bits fly everywhere and in all directions.

A power vacuum was created by removing not only Saddam Hussein (the merits of which can be debated) but insanely also the Iraqi infrastructure such as the Army and Police. Additionally, the US forces have done an absolutely abysmal job of trying to maintain order and security. They've been hopeless at it, and the ordinary Iraqi who wants no part of any war, whether it is for or against the Americans, has been killed, kidnapped, and whatever else they've had done to them. As a result various groups have taken control of particular areas. It's like mini-fiefdoms. It's a complete mess.

It's either mind boggling incompetence or a deliberate strategy. Either way, Iraq got screwed.