Sons of Iraq Groups in Diyala Province (Update)

 Diyala province is a strategic crossroads, as it lies between Baghdad, Iran and insurgent strongholds in northern Iraq.

[i]

The province is considered a “miniature Iraq” in that it has sizable Sunni, Shi'a and Kurdish populations, all of which are competing for power.

[ii]

Coalition leaders have recruited over 11,000 mostly-Sunni Sons of Iraq (SoI) in Diyala province. These groups have been very effective in uprooting various insurgent groups – particularly al-Qaeda in Iraq – from their former strongholds.

[iii]

This success, however, has been threatened by ongoing sectarian strife between these groups and the Shi'a-dominated Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).

 

 

Recently, hundreds of the Sons of Iraq protested in the streets of Baqubah, the provincial capital, in response to reports that the local Iraqi Police chief, a Shi’a, was responsible for torturing local Sunnis.

[iv]

The protesters, who numbered over 10,000 and included nearly half of the local SoI, threatened to walk out in larger numbers or even to quit their jobs as SoI members, which would be a great defeat for Coalition efforts to foster reconciliation.

[v]

Coalition leaders have acknowledged that without the Sons of Iraq they do not have enough troops to deliver security effectively to the citizens in the province.

[vi]

 

The situation deteriorated on February 10, as the local news agency Iqraa Press cited a Ba'qubah police source as saying that the Sons of Iraq had abducted one of the police chief's bodyguards. In addition, the independent Aswat al-Iraq reported clashes between the Sons of Iraq and Iraq Police led to the deaths of three policemen and injuries to three members of the SoI in Diyala and that Sunnis were engaging in civil disobedience throughout the province as security generally deteriorated.

[vii]

On February 28, the crisis escalated as leaders of Diyala’s popular committees announced that they would dissolve themselves and close their offices.

[viii]

 

Just as Diyala serves as a small mirror for Iraq, this crisis within Diyala represents on a smaller scale issues that the Iraqi government must confront writ large, which is the ongoing sectarian suspicion and the occasionally adversarial relationship between the SoI and the Iraqi Security Forces. Similar problems have cropped up elsewhere in Iraq. South of Baghdad, fighters have refused to man their checkpoints after U.S. soldiers killed three fighters on February 15. The circumstances around those deaths are disputed.  U.S. soldiers said they were fired upon and acted in self-defense. Regardless, more than 1,000 fighters walked away from their posts within a short period of time, saying that it was not worthwhile to cooperate with the United States military.

[ix]

 

On March 1, the Voice of Iraq and US military both reported that Diyala's Sons of Iraq would be returning to their posts following negotiations with the Provincial government.  The decision to return was taken after the local Iraqi Security Forces agreed to recruit 400 more SoI into the ISF.

[x]

 Major Mike Garcia, spokesman for the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 2nd Infantry Division said, “This was an Iraqi issue that required an Iraqi, political solution. They worked out an equitable solution and the Coalition is appreciative of their dedication and continued service to Iraq.”

[xi]

 This issue is important because the Iraqi Government must show that it is willing and able to address Sunni groups’ concerns not only in Diyala but throughout Iraq. That issue is at the center of whether the many Sunni groups who have shown a willingness to buy into Iraq’s democratic political proces remain loyal to Iraq's government and its democratic political process.

 For more information, see Backgrounder #23: Sons of Iraq and Awakening Forces.

 

 References

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