U.S. Military Makes Last Payment to ‘Sons of Iraq’

[sabra]

Source: DOD


FORWARD OPERATING BASE WARRIOR, Iraq, March 12, 2009 – The U.S. military made its last payment to “Sons of Iraq” civilian security group members March 2 in Kirkuk province’s city of Sudayra.

The Iraqi government will assume full responsibility of payments April 1.

"This is one of the many milestones that the (Iraqi government) is hitting day by day," Army Capt. Justin Michel, commander of 1st Cavalry Division’s Company A, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. "This transfer is a necessary step that the (Iraqi government) is taking to show its citizens that it is taking the lead on more programs."

Read more: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=53443

[TwilightGardener]

1. As long as the bribe money keeps flowing, I guess they won't care where it comes from.

[ohio2007]

2. Iraq's Sunni Awakening movement takes first place in Anbar province elections

they can set their own wages.They can vote themselves a raise while they are at it

Iraq's Sunni Awakening movement takes first place in Anbar province elections
Pro-U.S. group, which switched sides in 2006 to fight Al Qaeda, says it's ready to govern
By Liz Sly | Tribune correspondent
12:54 AM CST, March 8, 2009
RAMADI, Iraq — The tribal leaders who turned their guns against Al Qaeda in Iraq and helped turn the tide of the war are now facing a radically different but perhaps equally formidable challenge: the task of governing the vast and historically volatile province of Anbar.

Final results in Iraq's provincial elections gave first place to a slate of candidates fielded by the Awakening movement, the Sunni group of tribesmen who switched sides in 2006 and joined the U.S. in the fight against Al Qaeda.
With 25 percent of the vote and eight seats on the 29-seat council, the Awakening will have to govern in coalition with smaller parties. But its first-place showing will give the tribes who defeated Al Qaeda a leading role in the administration, an outcome that Awakening leaders believe is their due after their heroic efforts.

"We are the sons of the province, and we are ready to run the province," said Ahmad Abu Risha, who inherited the leadership of the Awakening movement after his brother, Abdul Sattar, was killed in a suicide bombing in 2007

snip

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-iraq-anbar_slymar08,0,1649202.story