Awakening Councils in Iraq
Abstract
The Anbar Awakening Council was the first of a growing number of Awakening Councils to form throughout Iraq. Formed by Sunnis in response to al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), the Awakening Councils have helped to greatly reduce the activities of AQI. There are now several challenges facing the future of the Awakening Councils, including threats from without and threats from within the Councils. The threats from without include AQI and the Iraqi government. In response to the Awakening Council's pressure on AQI, AQI has begun to target members of the Awakening Councils. Since December of last year, there have been over 100 members of the Awakening Councils killed. The threats from within come from power struggles among the Councils as they seek to gain power over each other. Another problem is that when the Awakening Councils are eventually disbanded, there will be thousands of people without jobs. There should be a means by which Council members can transition to other jobs when their Council is disbanded. If Coalition Forces can find a way to turn the Awakening Councils into neighborhood watch groups, they will have the potential to become a long-term partner in the stabilization of Iraq. Maintaining their distance from outside influences is an important part of ensuring that the Councils remain effective. The U.S. military is currently providing too much support to them. The best way for the U.S. military to maintain influence with the Councils while minimizing the perception of too much U.S. involvement is to assign liaisons to the Councils. There are three types of liaisons that would be valuable: a chaplain, an intelligence liaison, and a military liaison. The liaisons would meet with Council leaders no more than once or twice a week.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA494945
Entities
People
- Brandon Eliason