This really has been an amazing story from day one when the Sunni tribes in Anbar province decided they had put up with al Qaeda in Iraq long enough and banded together to fight al Qaeda. We have been watching all along as Anbar has gone from the most violent province in Iraq to one of the most quiet and calm and now, over half of all the Awakening forces have signed up to become regulars in the Iraqi Army!
U.S. officials have helped process the screenings and all is moving forward for them to begin their training. I would have to say that based on their successes in Anbar, these new recruits will more than likely speed past others from the eastern and southern part of Iraq in skill level and dedication - after all, they've already been in many battles.
Here's the full story.
U.S. officials have helped process the screenings and all is moving forward for them to begin their training. I would have to say that based on their successes in Anbar, these new recruits will more than likely speed past others from the eastern and southern part of Iraq in skill level and dedication - after all, they've already been in many battles.
Here's the full story.
9,000 'Awakening' members ready for Iraq military training: US
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Some 9,000 members of anti-Qaeda "Awakening" fronts in Iraq have been screened and lined up for training as regular police or soldiers, the US military said on Sunday.
The number represents more than half the 16,000 or so Awakening members, many of whom are former Sunni Arab insurgents.
They have applied to join the regular Iraqi security forces after having been recruited by the US military to fight Al-Qaeda in their own backyard.
Military spokesman Rear Admiral Gregory Smith told a news conference in Baghdad that the rest were still waiting to undergo screening and for openings in police colleges and military academies.
"Around 9,000 members of the Awakening have been entered into a process in which they are in a queue to begin their training programmes," Smith said.
In western Anbar province, where tribal leaders in September 2006 launched the first Awakening group, effectively putting Al-Qaeda to flight, another "10,000 to 20,000 ... have already gone through a training programme and are serving as police officers or members of the army."
US troops have for the past year been working closely with former insurgents they call CLCs or Concerned Local Citizens, who are paid 300 dollars a month to patrol neighbourhoods and man checkpoints.
Their numbers have swelled to some 80,000 members of a total of 130 CLC groups countrywide, according to latest figures from the US military
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