SoI: Anbar

Third in a series, previous entry here.

More from Adam Weinstein, on the near-future of the Sons of Iraq program.

Anbar grassroots movement reaches milestone:
Sons of Iraq registration underway
By Adam Weinstein
MNC-I Public Affairs
December 26, 2008

BAGHDAD – In June 2007, the once-restless and violent western Iraqi province of Anbar produced a grassroots security movement that came to be known as the Awakening. The movement grew rapidly throughout the country with Coalition help, speeding the nation’s return to peace and stability. Today, the original Awakening movement members in Anbar - now commonly known as the Sons of Iraq - are preparing for another first: They are transferring from Coalition to Iraqi control and preparing for new jobs in the service of their country.

“They have invested in the future of Iraq. And the Government of Iraq is offering them hope and an opportunity to play yet another important role in the future of this country,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Kulmayer, the chief of reconciliation and engagement for Multi-National Corps - Iraq. “They’re going to be part of that.”

The transfer process – dubbed “the leading edge of reconciliation” by MNC-I’s deputy commanding general, Maj. Gen. Michael Ferriter –begins on Feb. 1, 2009. On that date, Anbar’s Sons of Iraq will join thousands of other members across the country, transferring from the Coalition forces to the responsibility of the Iraqi Government -- which has promised them long-term employment in the army, police, civil service and other meaningful job fields.

Retired Iraqi Army Maj. Gen. Muzhir al-Mawla, left, representative of Iraq’s Implementation and Follow-Up Committee for National Reconciliation, speaks with Maj. Gen. Tariq, director general of the Iraqi Police, at a meeting in Anbar Dec. 20 to discuss the transfer of Sons of Iraq control from Coalition forces to the Government of Iraq. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric J. Martinez)

The groundwork for the transfer was set in late December, in a series of meetings between SoI leaders and representatives of the Iraqi government. “The Government invited the SoI leaders to stand up and ask questions,” Kulmayer said. “And some of them ask pretty tough questions.”

In Anbar, the SoI leaders’ concerns revolved around how all their men would be paid and employed after the Coalition forces handed the reins over to the Iraqis. The registration process has been challenging, but all parties agree that the SoI should be taken care of, given their sacrifices and contributions to normalcy and peace in western Iraq.

“In 2008, approximately 500 Sons of Iraq have been killed in the line of duty, and more than 750 wounded,” Kulmayer said. “That’s men out there risking their lives to secure and protect Iraqi citizens and their neighborhoods. It’s a substantial sacrifice.”

Retired Iraqi Army Maj. Gen. Muzhir al-Mawla, right, representative of Iraq’s Implementation and Follow-Up Committee for National Reconciliation, speaks with Marine Maj. Gen. Richard P. Mills, ground commander, Multi-National Forces - West, at a meeting in Anbar Dec. 20 to discuss the transfer of Sons of Iraq control from Coalition forces to the Government of Iraq. (U.S. Army photo bySpc. Eric J. Martinez)

Judging from previous transfers, the sacrifices of Anbar’s SoI will not go unrewarded. In Baghdad - home to more than half the nation’s 95,000 or so Sons of Iraq - the members have already received their second monthly paychecks from the Iraqi government. Many of the Baghdad SOIs are now in training to be police officers or workers for a variety of civic projects and other meaningful jobs. “We’ve learned a lot of lessons from Baghdad,” said Iraqi Army Major Gen. Muzhir al-Mawla, vice chairman of the Iraqi Follow-Up Committee for National Reconciliation.

The transfer has special significance in Anbar province, where the original Awakening movement was born. In late 2006, Anbar was among the most violent areas of Iraq, with elements of Al Qaeda in Iraq operating freely in populated areas.

Al Qaeda had launched a deadly campaign of intimidation and violence campaign against the citizens of Anbar, which included the indiscriminate killings of dozens of innocent Iraq men, women and children as well as Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces. It was here that dissatisfied Sunni tribal leaders first found common ground with the Coalition against al Qaeda, and started neighborhood watches to push the terrorist group out of their communities.

“We helped organize them and eventually began to fund them to provide critical infrastructure and security throughout Anbar,” Ferriter said, “And it quickly spread to many of the other provinces.”

Gov. Mamoun Sami, right, Anbar provincial governor greets representatives of the Iraq Army at a meeting in Anbar Dec. 20 to discuss the transfer of Sons of Iraq control from Coalition forces to the Government of Iraq. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric J. Martinez)

Some of the Sons of Iraq had previously fought against the Coalition. But Ferriter points out that “reconciliation is something you do with your adversaries, not your friends.” And, as he told a group of SoI leaders in Anbar on Dec. 20, “There is a common agreement: We don’t want these men to turn to Al Qaeda.”

The SoI volunteers’ success in Anbar helped turn the tide of war in dramatic fashion. Today, Anbar averages less than one attack per day, and the province was returned to Iraqi control in September. “The blows we have struck against Al Qaeda in Anbar have implications far beyond Anbar’s borders,” the White House said in a release last September.

Retired Iraqi Army Maj. Gen. Muzhir al-Mawla, hand raised, representative of Iraq’s Implementation and Follow-Up Committee for National Reconciliation, addresses representatives of the Sons of Iraq, Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition forces at a meeting in Anbar Dec. 20 to discuss the transfer of Sons of Iraq control from Coalition forces to the Government of Iraq. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric J. Martinez)

Kulmayer is confident that the Sons of Iraq transfer will be no less historic. “It’s so important to look at this as a reconciliation issue,” he said. “If you go back to the beginning, you had insurgents, who reconciled with the coalition. And now we’re following that up with a reconciliation between the Sons of Iraq and their own government.”

“That,” he said, “is the way to put Iraq back together.”

Retired Iraqi Army Maj. Gen. Muzhir al-Mawla, left, representative of Iraq’s Implementation and Follow-Up Committee for National Reconciliation, speaks with Gov. Sami Mamoun, Anbar province governor, at a meeting in Anbar Dec. 20 to discuss the transfer of Sons of Iraq control from Coalition forces to the Government of Iraq. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Eric J. Martinez)

More to follow...

- via email, facebook, twitter, etc.