US, UK enlist former Taliban in fight with insurgents

On patrol in Mosul, Iraq with General Peter Sc...Image via Wikipedia
Independent:

A controversial programme by the US and Britain to enlist former Taliban fighters and other armed groups to combat the insurgency in Afghanistan is underway.

Supporters of the “Sons of Shura” hold that they are brave men risking their lives to fight for their community. To others, though, they are a violent private army in the making who will only add to the strife in a violent land.

The force is similar to one organised by General David Petraeus in Iraq and credited with turning the tide of the war in Iraq.

However, as the Pentagon documents released at the weekend highlighted, those militias were also responsible for carrying out atrocities to which the Americans often turned a blind eye.

The “Sons of Iraq”, set up by the Coalition, used Sunni militants who had changed sides to combat al-Qa’ida and other foreign jihadists in what has been considered a successful campaign in curbing terrorist attacks.

At the time there were reports that the group, along with Iraqi government run militias such as the Scorpion Brigade and Special Commandos were responsible for extra-judicial killings and torture. The US military documents leaked at the weekend chart hundreds of cases of “Iraqi on Iraqi” abuse, some echoing the most horrific acts of the secret police under Saddam Hussein’s regime, which the US forces deliberately failed to investigate.

The UN’s special rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak, has called on President Obama to launch an investigation into the cover-up, saying: “There is an obligation to investigate whenever there are credible allegations that torture has occurred.”

...
I don't think the US id in a position to do anything about the sons of Iraq. Obama is not about to commit troops to going after the Sunnis at this point. Keeping a tighter leash on the former Taliban may be possible, but it too will be difficult.

I don't give much credit to the Wikileaks this time.  There is no assurance that the material is not doctored or that material that would exonerate has been omitted.  After all we are dealing with thieves. The bottom line is that I do not hold the leakers in high regard.
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