Quote:
Originally Posted by baddog
What do you attribute it to?
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Payoffs to Suni fighters and promises to Al Sadr to leave if violence went down.
Couldn't we just have given them the $200 million without sending more troops?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080818/...nni_fighters_1
Quote:
U.S. officials credit the rise of such groups, known variously as Awakening Councils, Sons of Iraq and Popular Committees, with helping rout al-Qaida.
Since the rise of the allied Sunni movement, America has spent some $200 million on salaries, equipment and training for the fighters, which now number nearly 100,000. The U.S. goal is for many of them to be integrated into the Iraqi army or police, providing the fighters with long-term incomes.
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