28 August 2010

Whither the 'Sons of Iraq'?

Now that the US is pulling out, the sectarian "Sons of Iraq" have been cast adrift and are feeling abandoned.

The Sunni Arab militiamen who sided with American soldiers against Al-Qaeda during Iraq's brutal insurgency fear the exit of thousands of US troops will herald a surge in bloody revenge attacks against them.
Known as the "Sons of Iraq" by the US army that financed them, the former rebels fought militants loyal to Osama bin Laden's terror network, but years later are mocked as "Sons of America" by foes who continue to exact vengeance.
Dozens of the fighters, who helped avert a civil war and were crucial to curbing Iraq's sectarian violence when it peaked in 2006 and 2007, have been killed in recent months in acts of retaliation.



By: Brant

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