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Sons of Iraq

Ardolino at Long War Journal on Baghdad’s Shia Awakening, some Sadr City neighbors who aren’t crazy about the Mahdi Army.   

… Thornburg attributes most of the improvement in his area in southern Rusafa to the Sons of Iraq, the local neighborhood watchmen who are paid by the US. The Sons of Iraq program was started here seven months ago by local leaders and the 82nd Airborne, the unit last responsible for the southwestern half of Rusafa, which is essentially downtown Baghdad. Local Sons of Iraq leaders claim they were “the first Shia Awakening” against militias and al Qaeda.

“The SOI have exceeded expectations. They’ve turned one of the most violent areas of Baghdad into one of the most quiet,” said Thornburg. “Specifically, they are looking for Mahdi Army. They know who comes into their area, they man checkpoints 24 hours a day, they do vehicle searches, they question people and they patrol. The locals trust them and they are happy with them. They’ve earned a lot of wasta [respect] from the citizens, and the results speak for themselves. It’s a real success story.”

Whole thing here. Remember to support independent journalism. Sometimes it seems like, if we didn’t have it, we’d barely have journalism from the war zones at all. Speaking of which, here’s Yon pushing Moment of Truth. Sorry to say I have not yet read this well-reviewed book, being bogged down in the Russian Front.

In other independent journalism news, Totten is kicking back in the Balkans. His postcards include Serbian kids at play:

Here are some historical ruins. An ethnically cleansed Muslim village in Bosnia, near Republica Srpska:

Topics: Iraq, media

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 11:39 am on Sunday, May 4, 2008

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