Members of the Sunni Awakening, whose turn against al-Qaeda was instrumental in helping the surge to reduce violence in Iraq in 2006-07, have complained for a long time that the Shiite government treats them badly and shouldn’t take their continued loyalty for granted. Now, the New York Times reports, those vague threats are becoming more concrete:
Although there are no firm figures, security and political officials say hundreds of the well-disciplined fighters — many of whom have gained extensive knowledge about the American military — appear to have rejoined Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. Beyond that, officials say that even many of the Awakening fighters still on the Iraqi government payroll, possibly thousands of them, covertly aid the insurgency.
The defections have been driven in part by frustration with the Shiite-led government, which Awakening members say is intent on destroying them, as well as by pressure from Al Qaeda. The exodus has accelerated since Iraq’s inconclusive parliamentary elections in March, which have left Sunnis uncertain of retaining what little political influence they have and which appear to have provided Al Qaeda new opportunities to lure back fighters.
The success of the surge has always been hard to assess. As pretty much every critic has said, its goal was to reduce violence in order to provide the conditions for a political settlement. But that political settlement has never come, and it’s starting to look like it never will. The surge and the Awakening (and the other Four S’s) may have delayed a full-blown Sunni-Shiite civil war, and that delay might have eliminated the possibility for good. But an Iran-centric Iraq engaged in a low-level insurgency with its Sunni minority for years or decades? Yeah, that’s still possible.
