Word: abdallah
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...impossible to know how many of the Sons of Iraq have, like Abdallah, American blood on their hands. The U.S. military says it took great care during recruitment to try and prevent infiltration. According to Lieut. Colonel Jeffrey Kulmayer, chief of reconciliation and engagement for the Multi-National Corps-Iraq, "There is a screening process before they become SOI, and the [tribal] sheiks vouch for their...
...Abdallah won't tell me how he slipped through the screen or how he, a city dweller, got a tribal sheik to speak on his behalf. He hints that some money changed hands. "Everything is possible with dollars," he says with a laugh. He claims that at least five of the men in his SOI group had been foot soldiers for al-Qaeda. The U.S. soldiers with whom they have regular contact "don't know anything about us," he said...
...extract more money from the U.S. military. (Al-Ameri says there are only 57,000 legitimate SOI; the U.S. military says there are nearly twice that number.) In private, other Iraqi officials worry that some tribal leaders have taken money from both the Americans as well as men like Abdallah...
...After a great deal of pressure from the U.S. military, the Iraqi government this month finally took charge of paying the salaries for the 54,000 SOI in the Baghdad area. (Abdallah's group remains on the U.S. payroll.) In early November, 3,000 SOI were inducted into the police training academy. Al-Ameri says 15,000 to 20,000 SOI will be inducted into Iraqi security forces, but only after further verification. The rest will have to give up their arms and take up other jobs - as carpenters, plumbers, electricians and so on. "We'll give them training...
...unlikely that men like Abdallah will simply lay down their weapons and be satisfied with a menial job. Many SOI see themselves as the true protectors of their towns and provinces and have nothing but scorn for the Iraqi government, police and army. "If they don't make me at least a captain or a major in the army, I don't want any other job from them," Abdallah says. And what would he do then? "I don't know," he says. "Maybe I'll go back to what I did before." He smiles and makes the universal gesture...