Why not use the Sunnis as clients?
 

We have done it before, in the past. I'm glad we have generals on the ground that can look past the irony and use realist policies to try and get results...why not at the point?

“They say, ‘We hate you because you are occupiers’ ” he said, “ ‘but we hate Al Qaeda worse, and we hate the Persians even more.’ ” Sunni militants refer to Iraq’s Shiites as Persians, a reference to the strong links between Iraqi Shiites and the Shiites who predominate in Iran."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/wo...agewanted=1&hp

training and equipping a new al-qaeda to overcome the old one??
sounds like a good idea!

It's a '80s retro policy: We give guns and money to the bad guys, so they can kill the really bad guys, but they have to promise not to try and kill us in the mean time.

The downside: unlike the 80s, there are no new episodes of Magnum PI on Thursday nights.

isn't that how Sadaam got into power?

Not sure about that, but it's where the Taliban came from for sure. Back then they were freedom fighters called mujahaddin. Didn't you see Spies Like Us? ;)

Are you talking about the Iran/Iraq war?

If so, I think Sadaam was already in power when we equipped him to fight the Iranians, though I may be mistaken. But we do have to be careful who we're helping.

Yes, the old theory "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Then, when the new group is in power, they become the new enemy.

yes, I guess the better phrase would be, "We propped him up."

It's a shame that foresight is not as clear as hindsight. Of course, we never would have had this classic parody:

From NRO earlier today....

"Now the movement against Al Qaeda is spreading. "Salvation councils" similar to the Anbar Awakening have been formed in mostly Sunni Salahuddin province (north of Baghdad),Shiite-Sunni mixed Diyala province (northeast of the capital) and mostly Shiite Babil province (south of Baghdad). In some cases, their coming together coincides with cease-fires between U.S. forces and non-Al Qaeda insurgent groups. All are striving to reestablish normal relations with the Iraqi government.

Al Qaeda has responded in characteristic fashion — a campaign of atrocities designed to intimidate or kill its new antagonists. Such tactics were successful in the past. No longer. Today these atrocities only serve to remind the leaders of the salvation councils and their supporters that Al Qaeda is the real enemy. They have not deterred Anbaris from joining and integrating into the Iraqi government's security organs. They have not deterred leaders in other provinces from forming similar groups."

http://corner.nationalreview.com/pos...zQ2MWUzMmU5YTE