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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/2012/09/06/%d9%86%d8%ac%d8%a7%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%a7%d9%85-%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%a6%d8%aa%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%81-%d8%a7%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7/#respond" title="Comment on نجاة الأمين العام لائتلاف ابناء العراق الغيارى من محاولة اغتيال بسلاح كاتم للصوت غربي بغداد">No Comments</a></span> Posted on September 6th, 2012 by Hussein Kareem</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/2012/09/06/%d9%86%d8%ac%d8%a7%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%85%d9%8a%d9%86-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%a7%d9%85-%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%a6%d8%aa%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%81-%d8%a7%d8%a8%d9%86%d8%a7%d8%a1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to نجاة الأمين العام لائتلاف ابناء العراق الغيارى من محاولة اغتيال بسلاح كاتم للصوت غربي بغداد">نجاة الأمين العام لائتلاف ابناء العراق الغيارى من محاولة اغتيال بسلاح كاتم للصوت غربي بغداد</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/assassination-attempts/" rel="tag">Assassination attempts</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sons-of-iraq/" rel="tag">Sons of Iraq</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>نجا الامين العام لائتلاف ابناء العراق الغيارى الشيخ عباس المحمداوي من محاولة اغتيال بسلاح كاتم للصوت غربي العاصمة بغداد. <br/>وقال مدير أعلام ائتلاف أبناء العراق الغيارى أحمد الزبيدي للوكالة الاخبارية للانباء، يوم الاربعاء، أن الامين العام لائتلاف ابناء العراق الغيارى الشيخ عباس المحمداوي، نجا من محاولة اغتيال بمسدس كاتم للصوت على طريق مطار بغداد الدولي غربي العاصمة بغداد. <br/>واوضح المصدر ان مجهولين يستقلون سيارة اجرة نوع سايبا بدون لوحات تسجيل، اطلقوا النار من مسدس كاتم للصوت بأتجاه المحمداوي، إلا انه لم يصب بأذى، مشيراً الى تضرر سياراته المصفحة فقط.</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12169"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/10/occupation-of-iraq-destroys-womens-lives/#respond" title="Comment on Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives">No Comments</a></span> Posted on January 10th, 2011 by Fatima Jameel</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/10/occupation-of-iraq-destroys-womens-lives/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives">Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sectarianism/" rel="tag">sectarianism</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sex-trafficking/" rel="tag">sex trafficking</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sexual-abuse/" rel="tag">sexual abuse</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sexual-slavery/" rel="tag">sexual slavery</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sons-of-iraq/" rel="tag">Sons of Iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/statistics/" rel="tag">statistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/torture/" rel="tag">Torture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment/" rel="tag">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment-levels/" rel="tag">unemployment levels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unicef/" rel="tag">UNICEF</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/war-crimes/" rel="tag">War Crimes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/widows/" rel="tag">Widows</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wikileaks/" rel="tag">Wikileaks</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens/" rel="tag">women's</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>More than seven years after the US- and UK-led invasion of their country, Iraqis continue to endure an occupation that has systematically violated their rights to life, dignity, self-determination and economic development. The occupation has been and continues to be so destructive and so violent that one in four Iraqis are estimated to be dead or displaced. One in five Iraqis has been made a refugee or an internally displaced person (IDP). </p> <div style="border-right: black 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: black 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 300px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"> <p>Serene Assir, <i>The Electronic Intifada,</i> 10 January 2011 </p> <p><em>Serene Assir is a Lebanese independent writer and journalist based in Spain.</em></p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11723.shtml" class="external" target="_blank">ei: Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives</a></p> </p></div> <p>In particular, the role and situation of women and girls has declined precipitously compared to prior to the invasion. From torture to rape to assassination, from forced separation for mixed couples to women and their children enduring the death of their husbands and fathers, from a loss of educational rights to expulsion from the workplace and public life, and from sexual slavery to forced flight or enforced disappearance, for the past seven years Iraqi women and girls have endured the most terrifying of fates. They are living at the mercy of an occupation that both seeks to terrorize them into submission, and to use them as objects for the terrorization of the whole of Iraqi society. </p> <h3>No security </h3> <p>Dr. Souad al-Azzawi, who authored a study on Iraqi women entitled "Deterioration of Iraq women’s rights and living conditions under occupation," published in January 2008, told The Electronic Intifada: "The most significant loss that Iraqi women have suffered is a complete and total loss of security." She explained that the loss of security entails both the loss of physical security and "the economic, social and civil securities Iraqi women were so accustomed to prior to the occupation." </p> <p>In fact, it appears that the loss of physical and other aspects of security have a Catch-22 effect on the lives of women. The lack of legal and institutional support for women by an Iraqi puppet government which is at best ineffective has meant that in the vast majority of cases the criminals, mafias, militias, death squads, US occupation forces and Iraqi police and army forces committing crimes against women are not held accountable for their actions. This has in turn encouraged the development of a situation characterized by lawlessness and criminality, in which women are prime targets. As such, many women have been forced to leave their jobs and quit their education, for fear that they may be the next victim of rape or assassination. </p> <p>According to al-Azzawi, Iraqi women have had to resort to "the relative security of their homes," often taking their children out of school too if they were the only parent able to accompany them there and back. </p> <p>Echoing al-Azzawi’s words, an Iraqi refugee speaking on condition of anonymity said that she was forced to leave Iraq precisely because of death threats issued against her by militias who had found out she was actively working as a journalist seeking to expose the injustices taking place against women. Had she stayed in Iraq, the threats likely would have been fulfilled. </p> <p>"Not only was I being targeted, but I was also without protection, given that Iraq has no government to speak of," she explained. She added that "I could have been killed at any moment, and no one would have been held accountable for it. It was for one reason alone that I fled: because I had no choice." </p> <h3>Criminal levels of poverty </h3> <p>The figures speak for themselves. According to a dossier on Iraqi women published by the BRussells Tribunal, prior to the invasion 72 percent of working women were government employees. The dismantlement of state institutions immediately after the invasion meant that these women became unemployed. Instability and ineffective institutions in Iraq render it impossible to pinpoint the total rate of unemployment today, but estimates range from 15 percent to 70 percent. The few stable jobs that exist, according to the dossier, are usually given to men, though a growing number of female-headed households means that many women need to take extraordinary risks in order to try and cater for their children ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://www.brussellstribunal.org/pdf/Women.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi Women Under Occupation</a>" [PDF]). </p> <p>The same economic insecurity affects Iraqi refugee families. Aseer al-Madaien, the Protection Officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – Syria, says that out of 139,000 registered Iraqis in Syria, 28 percent are households headed by women. In total, estimates for the total number of displaced Iraqis, including both refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), range up to almost five million, according to the international organization Medecins Sans Frontieres, which believes that there are 2.5 million Iraqi IDPs and 2.3 million refugees. </p> <p>IDPs suffer both extreme vulnerability and insecurity, as they seek refuge in the homes of relatives and friends, said Hana Al Bayaty, member of the Executive Committee of the BRussells Tribunal. Many of them are the victims of ethnic cleansing, whereby a country once free of sectarianism is increasingly witnessing the targeting of persons on the basis of their religion or ethnicity. Mixed marriages in these conditions are all too often broken up by force, according to a report published by the UN-affiliated IRIN humanitarian news agency ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=26268" class="external" target="_blank">Mixed Marriages confront Sectarian Violence</a>," 6 April 2006). </p> <p>The majority of Iraqi refugees have headed to neighboring countries Syria and Jordan, where they are not allowed to work, as they are legally considered "guests." In 2007, the UNHCR reported that an estimated 40 percent of Iraq’s middle class had fled the country. Not only have almost half of those with the qualifications and experience to help rebuild Iraq left the country, but they are also suffering from the most extreme form of disempowerment, according to Al Bayaty. </p> <p>Al-Azzawi explained that "For the educated middle class, this situation is shattering as everything we have worked so hard to earn and build up over decades of war and sanctions is being brought down by military force before our very eyes." </p> <p>Unable to work legally, it is often refugee women who take upon themselves the burden and the risk of working as they are less likely to be asked for documentation on the streets of Amman, Damascus and beyond, and they thereby hope to be less likely to be deported. </p> <p>Unemployment levels in Syria and Jordan, however, mean that even illegal work is hard to come by. It is because of this that the phenomenon of forced prostitution is becoming increasingly rife. The growing problem of sex trafficking is partly caused by poverty. </p> <p>According to al-Azzawi, the lack of work permits, qualifications and opportunities "leads some women to prostitution in order to feed their children and their families." In other cases, the sheer lack of protection faced by some women push them into prostitution. Problems in such cases include threats of kidnapping issued against women should they not accept to prostitute themselves. These threats are issued especially against women whose husbands are dead or missing. "The women of Iraq live in a very fragile situation as a result of the American occupation’s crimes," al-Azzawi said. </p> <h3>Death, torture and enforced disappearance </h3> <p>No statistical reference can adequately convey the sheer suffering experienced by the people of Iraq, as a whole, from the genocidal sanctions period through the invasion and ensuing occupation. Current estimates place the number of dead at anywhere between 1.5 million and 2.5 million. </p> <p>According to Iraqi human rights analyst and advocate Asma al-Haidari, "Up to one million Iraqis have been forcibly disappeared." Behind the enforced disappearances are the US army, Iraqi government forces including the army and police, and al-Qaeda and other militias that operate freely across the country, according to a presentation given by Dirk Adriaensens, member of the BRussells Tribunal Executive Committee, at a London conference organized by the International Committee Against Disappearances on 9-12 December 2010. According to calculations by Adriaensens, based on UNHCR statistics, 20 percent of internally displaced Iraqi families have reported cases of missing children ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://www.brussellstribunal.org/pdf/Disappearances_missing_persons_in_Iraq.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">Enforced Disappearance. The Missing Persons of Iraq</a>" [PDF]). </p> <p>It is also understood that, given that there is a very real and justified fear of retaliation against families who report the disappearances of their loved ones, many others suffer in silence. Thousands of detainees, some of them in secret, illegal prisons, according to al-Azzawi, are women. Estimates published in 2008 by the Iraqi Parliamentary Women’s Committee and the Iraqi Ministry of Women’s Affairs indicate that between one and two million Iraqi women are widows. </p> <p>Inside Iraq’s jails, legal or not, cases of torture and sexual abuse have been widely reported. Revelations by WikiLeaks published on 22 October 2010 were described by Iraqi activists such as Sabah al-Mukhtar, president of the Arab Lawyers’ Union, as just "the tip of the iceberg," as he said on an Al-Jazeera English interview on 24 October. According to al-Azzawi, women are usually jailed on trumped-up charges of terrorism, where there is no proof and while there is no adequate legal system to ensure their right to a fair trial. "Many are awaiting execution," al-Azzawi added. </p> <p>Further, when it is the man who disappears, whether he is dead or missing, women and their families have to fend for themselves in a hellish situation. Out of this horror comes forth one of the more obtuse trends, inexistent in Iraq up until 2003, of families giving their daughters away in early marriage for fear of being unable to adequately support them. </p> <p>One immediate effect of this phenomenon is the fact that girls aged 13, 14 and 15 sold into early marriage lose their right to education. As figures currently stand, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report published on 1 September 2010, for every 100 boys in school, there are only 89 girls ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MCOI-89RD6Y?OpenDocument" class="external" target="_blank">Girls Education in Iraq 2010</a>" [PDF]). </p> <p>"Lots of those little girls are very bright and are willing to finish their education if they are allowed to," said al-Azzawi. </p> <p>Worse still is the flourishing of what are known as "pleasure marriages." These are short-term marriages conducted out of court, whereby separation is also very simple. It is a practice that Iraqi women’s rights advocates describe as linked to prostitution, because of the wrongful abuse of the practice by men in power, often blackmailing fathers into giving their daughters away in a "pleasure marriage," and also because once a girl or a woman has married in this way and has received alimony for her short-term commitment, she will find it very difficult to reintegrate back into her family. </p> <p>"Many girls are forced into prostitution and ultimately sex trafficking this way," al-Azzawi added. </p> <h3>Forced Islamization of society </h3> <p>It is deeply telling that Iraqi society is becoming forcibly Islamized by militias tied to the Iraqi puppet government, which is dependent upon the United States for its survival. Meanwhile, Washington claims to be fighting a war on Islamic terrorism. The reality, as is frequently the case, is the precise opposite. Previously a secular state, Iraqi society is becoming forcibly transformed into a theocracy. In such systems, women and girls inevitably lose. </p> <p>The results of the proliferation of fundamentalist militias are varied. While reports of Christian women veiling in order to avoid attacks are troubling in the Iraqi context, what is potentially much worse is that the notion of an Iraqi state for all its citizens is fast disappearing. Not only does this mean that Iraqi girls are no longer safe on the streets; it also means that if the occupation fulfills its goals, Iraqi "career women" may be a thing of the past. </p> <p>Al-Azzawi notes that "Economically the country has lost a huge, skilled working force, which is exactly what the occupation planned to do, and the lives of millions of working women and families were shattered." </p> <p>Considering that there is not a single right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the US occupation has not violated — as the International Initiative to Prosecute US Genocide in Iraq team found when working in 2009 to bring a legal case for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against four US presidents and four UK prime ministers — it is amazing yet encouraging that the US occupation’s goals have failed. </p> <p>Not only is the US administration under President Barack Obama still battling to maintain control over a country whose people resist in the name of their dignity and their love for Iraq, but many of the most outspoken and brilliant advocates for Iraqis’ rights in general are in fact women. </p> <p>"I have much hope for Iraq," said human rights advocate Asma al-Haidari, "Nothing will make me lose hope." </p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10927"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/06/selected-english-coverage-iraq-pulls-weapons-permits-from-former-insurgents/#respond" title="Comment on Selected English Coverage: Iraq pulls weapons permits from former insurgents">No Comments</a></span> Posted on June 6th, 2010 by Omar Khdhayyir</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/06/06/selected-english-coverage-iraq-pulls-weapons-permits-from-former-insurgents/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Selected English Coverage: Iraq pulls weapons permits from former insurgents">Selected English Coverage: Iraq pulls weapons permits from former insurgents</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-jazeera-english/" rel="tag">al jazeera english</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/assassinations/" rel="tag">Assassinations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/badges/" rel="tag">badges</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baquba/" rel="tag">Baquba</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bombings/" rel="tag">Bombings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/death-squads/" rel="tag">Death Squads</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/defence-ministry/" rel="tag">defence ministry</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diyala/" rel="tag">Diyala</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/hinterlands/" rel="tag">hinterlands</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/khaleej-times/" rel="tag">Khaleej Times</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/khalis/" rel="tag">Khalis</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/military-operations/" rel="tag">military operations</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/militia/" rel="tag">Militia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/militias/" rel="tag">Militias</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/parliamentary-election/" rel="tag">parliamentary election</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/political-vacuum/" rel="tag">political vacuum</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/reuters/" rel="tag">Reuters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sectarian-government/" rel="tag">sectarian government</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sectarian-strife/" rel="tag">sectarian strife</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-forces/" rel="tag">security forces</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sons-of-iraq/" rel="tag">Sons of Iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tribal-militias/" rel="tag">tribal militias</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence-in-iraq/" rel="tag">violence in iraq</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>The Reuters report carried by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/index00.asp" class="external" target="_blank">Khaleej Times Online</a> yesterday and the al-Jazeera report today "<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/20106653940383435.html" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq disarms Sunni tribal militias</a>" are alarming. Prior to the election there were some reasons to hope that among the political class at least there was an intense reluctance to risk reigniting sectarian strife. That appears no longer to be the case. The political vacuum and the lack of oversight by parliament means that the government headed by Nouri al-Maliki can and does do whatever it likes. Between "secret" prisons, death squads, and now this renewed targeting of the Sahwa there are considerable grounds for pessimism about our country’s future. The anti-Sahwa campaign in Diyala is especially worrying. Diyala has not been pacified and, particulalry in the hinterlands and "disputed areas" it is only the Sahwa that prevent massive violence from reigniting – GZG forces still cannot establish any measure of meaningful control in those areas.</p> <div style="width: 98%"> <div class="container"> <div class="shadow"> <div class="frame"> <blockquote> <p>BAQUBA, Iraq – Iraq’s military on Saturday withdrew the right to carry weapons from 10,000 ex-Sunni insurgents, a move that threatened to cause a rift between security forces and Sunni fighters credited with helping quell violence in Iraq. </p> <p>Leaders of the Sahwa movement, or “Sons of Iraq”, responded immediately with a warning that they would stop cooperating with security forces in the troubled, mainly Sunni province of Diyala if their weapons permits were pulled. </p> <p>“Today, Saturday, we received an order from the Defence Ministry ground forces leadership to withdraw all the badges of the Sahwa personnel and replace them with new ones that do not authorize them to carry weapons,” said a spokesman for Diyala military operations, who asked not to be named. </p> <p>The military spokesman said Sahwa members are considered civilians, “so it is not reasonable to authorise around 10,000 personnel to carry weapons in this province.” </p> <p>Khalid al-Luhaibi, head of the Sahwa in Diyala, said the military must cancel the order or his members would stop cooperating. </p> <p>“How can we work and do our jobs if we are not eligible to carry weapons?” he said. “How can we, at least, protect ourselves?” </p> <p>The Sons of Iraq programme began when tribal leaders decided in 2006 to turn their backs on the bloody insurgency that threatened to tear Iraq apart and joined U.S. and Iraqi forces in fighting al Qaeda and other militants. </p> <p>Their decision to cut ties with al Qaeda was a turning point in the U.S.-led war against Sunni Islamist militants. </p> <p>Iraqi leaders promised to give government jobs to some 90,000 Sahwa members. About 42,000 of the fighters have already been integrated into government ministries, according to government officials. </p> <p>But thousands of others were asked to stay with their neighbourhood security patrols through Iraq’s March 7 parliamentary election and until a new government is formed. </p> <h4><em>SECTARIAN DIVIDE </em></h4> <p>The vote produced no clear winner and exposed Iraq’s sectarian divisions. A cross-sectarian coalition led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi won a narrow victory with strong support from minority Sunnis, but no bloc won enough seats to form a majority government. </p> <p>Since the election, Iraq’s two major Shi’ite coalitions have announced plans to form the largest group in parliament. Allawi in turn has warned that a Shi’ite alliance that attempted to exclude his bloc from government could trigger renewed violence. </p> <p>The Sons of Iraq fighters were credited with helping to significantly cut violence since the worst of the sectarian bloodshed in 2006-07, when tens of thousands of people were killed. </p> <p>Diyala, a mixed province with a Sunni majority just north of Baghdad, has seen more violence in recent months than other areas of Iraq. </p> <p>On May 12, a minivan packed with explosives blew up at a crowded market in the town of Khalis, killing at least 30 people and wounding 80 others. </p> <p>Before joining the fight against al Qaeda, members of the Sons of Iraq were accused of killing American and Iraqi soldiers. Some of their former leaders and fighters were arrested by Iraqi security forces to face those accusations, forcing others into hiding. </p> <p>Sahwa members have also been the targets of a recent campaign of assassinations and bombings in which more than 100 people have died. </p> <p>source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/index00.asp" class="external" target="_blank">Khaleej Times Online</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2010/June/middleeast_June218.xml&section=middleeast&col=" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq pulls weapons permits from former insurgents</a></p> </blockquote> <p>See also: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/06/20106653940383435.html" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq disarms Sunni tribal militias – Middle East – Al Jazeera English</a>.</p> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> </p></div> <p style="padding-top: 1em;">Omar Khdhayyir</p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-10481"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/14/they-turned-the-tide-for-america-now-as-withdrawal-nears-sons-of-iraq-pay-the-price-martin-chulov/#respond" title="Comment on They turned the tide for America. Now, as withdrawal nears, Sons of Iraq pay the price – Martin Chulov">No Comments</a></span> Posted on May 14th, 2010 by Diya al din</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/05/14/they-turned-the-tide-for-america-now-as-withdrawal-nears-sons-of-iraq-pay-the-price-martin-chulov/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to They turned the tide for America. Now, as withdrawal nears, Sons of Iraq pay the price – Martin Chulov">They turned the tide for America. Now, as withdrawal nears, Sons of Iraq pay the price – Martin Chulov</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-ghraib/" rel="tag">Abu Ghraib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-musab-al-zarqawi/" rel="tag">Abu Musab al-Zarqawi</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/adhamiya/" rel="tag">Adhamiya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-dora/" rel="tag">Al-Dora</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-fadhil/" rel="tag">al-Fadhil</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-qadoon/" rel="tag">al-Qadoon</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/attacks-on-awakening-fighters/" rel="tag">Attacks on "Awakening" fighters</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/attacks-on-awakening-council-families/" rel="tag">Attacks on Awakening council families</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/attacks-on-awakening-leaders/" rel="tag">Attacks on Awakening leaders</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/awakening-councils/" rel="tag">Awakening Councils</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad/" rel="tag">Baghdad</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baquba/" rel="tag">Baquba</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bombs/" rel="tag">bombs</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/bombs-adhesive/" rel="tag">Bombs - 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murder of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sheikh-moustafa-al-kamal-shabib/" rel="tag">Sheikh Moustafa al-Kamal Shabib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/silenced-guns-use-of-by-death-squads/" rel="tag">silenced guns - use of by death squads</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sons-of-iraq/" rel="tag">Sons of Iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/tigris-river/" rel="tag">Tigris River</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/west-baghdad/" rel="tag">west Baghdad</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Lauded band of rebels helped on the frontline of the insurgency from 2006, in many eyes saving Iraq from the abyss</p> <p>Hours after burying his slain cousin, Muhammad Jassem stood in the scorching dirt of a former al-Qaida parade ground speaking about a lurking foe that he knows is hunting him, too.</p> <p>Nearby, guards waited furtively at the entrance to the Islamic mourning tent for Sheikh Alman al-Shijah, blown apart last Friday by a bomb placed under his car. The rows of plastic seats set up to receive those paying condolences sat mostly empty, melting on the hard-baked plain in the village of al-Qadoon, in Diyala. It was here, Jassem says, that al-Qaida’s former leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, would receive cadres.</p> <p>"I saw him here in 2005," he said. "He was appointing al-Qaida princes and assigning military roles. This was a difficult neighbourhood – and still is.</p> <p>"They have tried everything to get us," he added, referring to militants he believes are still doing Zarqawi’s bidding. "And they will keep trying. This is still war up here. Our enemy may be cowards, but they are strong."</p> <p>Sheikh Alman was a leader of the Sons of Iraq, the lauded band of rebels who helped turn the tide of the insurgency from 2006, in many eyes saving Iraq from the abyss. His killers had tried to slay him six times before they finally succeeded. His cousin, Jassem, is also a member. He says he has been the target of 13 would-be hits.</p> <p>All around the country, Sons of Iraq leaders, also known as members of the Awakening Council, or al-Sahwa, rattle off similar numbers of attempts on their lives with a fatalistic calm. It is hard to find any member operating on the frontlines against Iraq’s rejuvenated insurgency who isn’t still being regularly threatened by hit squads. Most of their persecutors they claim to know. Many they believe have recently been freed from the now defunct US prison system in Iraq, which at its peak held almost 30,000 detainees. Many others had been rotated through the system during the blood-soaked years of 2006-07. Earlier this year, 15 Awakening members were killed in one night in Abu Ghraib. Things have got a lot worse since.</p> <p>This week alone, nine members were killed in five days in one of the most lethal weeks the homegrown counter-insurgents have endured. One was slain along with his entire family of five.</p> <p>Attempts on their lives are becoming such that even battle-hardened leaders, who have known little else but violence for almost five years, are now fearful for themselves and their families.</p> <p>"I am very worried," said Sheikh Moustafa al-Kamal Shabib, a decorated Awakening Council leader from the south Baghdad suburb of Arab Jabour. From 2005 until early 2008, Sunni insurgents had full rein over the area’s farmlands and ran weapons into Baghdad across the Tigris River, which snakes through the area’s heart.</p> <p>Sheikh Moustafa was one of many local leaders the US turned to in 2007 to capitalise on mini-rebellions in Sunni areas against al-Qaida groups which had begun to overplay their hands.</p> <p>Initially, Iraq’s disenfranchised Sunni groups had largely welcomed as reinforcements for a burgeoning resistance the hordes of Arab jihadis who had swarmed across porous borders and sought refuge in places such as Ramadi, Fallujah, west Baghdad and Diyala. But when the guests started imposing sharia law, beheading people on street corners and demanding access to their daughters, hospitality turned into hostility.</p> <p>"They were wrong and we fought them and killed them by the dozens," said Sheikh Moustafa. The <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-military" class="external" target="_blank">US military</a> locked up hundreds more alleged militants in the Dora neighbourhood of Baghdad alone who had operated with impunity during a total collapse of law and order. "For three years you couldn’t drive through here," he said as he pointed out homes flattened by US fighter jets during the surge of 2007.</p> <p>Militants are not here in the numbers that they were before. But they are active: "Their preferred method is assassination with silencers. But they also put bombs under the cars of leaders."</p> <p>Like all of Baghdad’s 241 remaining Sons of Iraq leaders, Sheikh Moustafa has been given three bodyguards paid for by the Iraqi government. The 1,400-odd foot soldiers who report to him throughout Arab Jabour have been paid $300 (£205) a month by the Iraqi government since the US military handed over responsibility from late-2008 as part of moves to take Iraq to full sovereignty and pave a way for an American exit.</p> <p>Ever since, it has not been an easy road. The government of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki has had an uneasy relationship with the rebels, who 12 months ago numbered 130,000. Now they are down to 91,405 and within two months of an election result they are set to be no more.</p> <p>By then, the government aims to integrate all remaining members into government ministries and security forces – budget shortfalls not withstanding.</p> <p>The Americans came to trust the Awakening Council, with former US commanding general David Petraeus offering amnesties to some leaders.</p> <p>However, Maliki and his advisers have not felt the same way, fearing the Sons of Iraq are infiltrated by Sunni militants who could use them as a Trojan horse to wreak further terror.</p> <p>Major general Mudhir al-Mawla, the director of the Sons of Iraq file in Iraq’s national reconciliation commission, confirmed the scepticism in the government: "Ever since they began, there have been members of Maliki’s administration who oppose them," he said. "They said they are like a militia and they all need to be disarmed. But they have played a very important role in giving precise information because they are locals. They know the locals and they know where their allegiances lie."</p> <p>In March last year, in a move that underscored the distrust, Maliki’s troops arrested a Sons of Iraq leader in the central Baghdad district of Fadhil and a two-day battle ensued. Ever since, he has been reluctant to travel to the frontline areas.</p> <p>"[Maliki] came here once," said Awakening Council leader Sabah al-Mashadani in what was once another no-go zone in Baghdad, the former battlefield suburb of Adamiyeh. "He was very surprised when he was well received. He said: ‘I thought everyone hated me here’."</p> <p>In Arab Jabour, Sheikh Moustafa has never seen the prime minister, but he has seen his special forces, who arrested the sheikh in January on trumped up charges that he had killed five local men in 2007. The US military quickly took responsibility for the killings and Sheikh Moustafa was released in Maliki’s name.</p> <p>However, the episode underscored the fragility of his position, a feeling he claims is shared by the rank and file. "We are being hunted down. It has never been worse. I have been targeted by roadside bombs six times in the past four months."</p> <p>Ten days ago, at the back of his family home, a $40,000 pond of fish was poisoned during the night by people he is adamant were linked to al-Qaida. Worse still, Sheikh Moustafa’s son spent February in hospital after buying an orange juice that was also laced with poison.</p> <p>He strongly suspects that he knows who is targeting him. In the village of al-Qadoon, Muhammad Jassem also thinks he knows his family’s tormentor.</p> <p>"That is the benefit of doing what we do," he said. "We know the people and we know where they have been."</p> <p>In the nearby Diyala police station, Major Hisham al-Jalil, who has locked up most of the area’s criminals since 2006, said the spike in attacks was being perpetrated by men who had returned from the US prisons and who blamed the Sons of Iraq for having sent them there.</p> <p>"They see them as traitors," he said. "They hate the security forces too, but their vengeance is even stronger for the al-Sahwa, some of whom they fought alongside as insurgents. It is only going to get worse here."</p> <p>With the US military only three months away from having no further combat role in Iraq, the Sons of Iraq are feeling isolated and abandoned. Their legacy will shape the declining months of the seven-year occupation, a fact the US military knows well.</p> <p>Pressed on the hardships the US-backed rebels are facing, US major general Joseph Reynes, who is responsible for the remaining American side of the Sons of Iraq project, said leaders he spoke to felt they had a national duty to ward off the resurgent militancy.</p> <p>"I went to Fallujah recently and spoke with a Sahwa leader who said as an Iraqi he must stand his post. They are soldiers on the front lines. This is an insurgency. It’s tough. That’s why we stand here as brothers moving forward in this fight."</p> <p>But Sheikh Moustafa feels that brotherhood may fade away as the US withdraws from the bitter battleground of Iraq. "We were there when the Americans wanted us and we have never left," he says. "But there will be no one here for us when the Americans are gone."</p> <h3>From local heroes to al-Qaida’s national nemesis</h3> <p>The Sons of Iraq grew out of a series of mini-rebellions against militants associated with al-Qaida that started in late 2006 – first in Anbar province, then spreading to Baghdad and elsewhere in the country.</p> <p>The initial rebels included those who had been co-opted by al-Qaida, or had willingly offered their services as anti-occupation fighters before realising what that entailed. Al-Qaida were hounded out of Anbar, with American military backing, after over-playing their hand with locals. The then US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus (pictured), was quick to capitalise on the regional uprisings, which morphed into a nationwide rebellion against al-Qaida.</p> <p>The US military offered many Sons of Iraq members amnesty and set up a formal programme, which at one stage paid 130,000 members, many of them former insurgents, $300 (£205) each a month.</p> <p>The Sons of Iraq have been credited with a prominent role in stabilising the country. However, they have struggled to win the trust and full backing of the Shia-majority Iraqi government, which fears the Sons of Iraq ranks have been infiltrated by Sunni militants.</p> <p>The Iraqi government has pledged to give all members jobs in either the security forces, or government departments. However, as the project winds down, Sons of Iraq members are being hunted down by insurgents who have been freed from US and Iraqi prisons and are determined to avenge old scores.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/13/sons-of-iraq-withdrawal-rebels" class="external" target="_blank">They turned the tide for America. Now, as withdrawal nears, Sons of Iraq pay the price</a> | by <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/martin-chulov" class="external" target="_blank">Martin Chulov</a>, reporting from Baquba | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://www.guardian.co.uk/" class="external" target="_blank">The Guardian</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="navigation"> <div class="alignleft"></div> <div class="alignright"></div> </div> </div> <div id="sidebar" class="span-10 last"> <div class="span-10" id="tabs"> <ul> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#featured-articles">Featured Articles</a></li> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#latest-articles">Latest Articles</a></li> </ul> <div id="featured-articles" class="widget"> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130126185300/http://gorillasguides.com/2012/04/19/hezbollah-says-latest-bombings-in-iraq-thwart-mission-to-build-state/">Hezbollah says latest bombings in Iraq 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