General: Iraq must be fair to Sons of Iraq

[unhappycamper]

General: Iraq must be fair to Sons of Iraq
By Chelsea J. Carter - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Dec 26, 2009 14:09:04 EST

BAGHDAD — A top American commander called on the Iraqi government to take care of tens of thousands of unemployed anti-al-Qaida Sunni fighters, saying proper treatment for the men is critical for national reconciliation.

The U.S. military’s support for Sons of Iraq, who played a key part in subduing al-Qaida, comes at crucial time when a number of checkpoints in Baghdad province manned by the Sunnis will be closed. The U.S. is seeking to ease the group’s concerns that the Shiite-dominated government may not honor its pledge to pay them until they are absorbed into national security forces or find civilian jobs.

“We want to make sure that the right things, the things the government has promised, in fact occur,” Army Maj. Gen. John Johnson, a deputy commanding general, told The Associated Press during a recent interview.

Many of the Sons of Iraq were former insurgents who later teamed up with the Americans against al-Qaida. The move, known as the Awakening, was credited — along with the surge of tens of thousands of U.S. troops — in helping quell the violence.

But the question of what to do with these nearly 100,000 people in the long-term remains. The U.S. handed over control last year of the Awakening Councils to Iraq, which pays their roughly $300 monthly salaries.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_sons_of_iraq_122609/