Awakening in Iraq: US Ally Arrested for "Terrorism", Firefights and Kidnappings Follow

Here's a little story, amidst the mythology of the victorious US "surge" in Iraq, to make your head spin:

American and Iraqi troops arrested the leader of a crucial Awakening Council in Baghdad on Saturday, setting off a rare spasm of street fighting and raising fresh concerns about the troubled Awakening program, which has brought many Sunni extremists over to the government’s side.

A combined force of American and Iraqi Army troops and National Police descended on Fadhil, a Sunni neighborhood and former insurgent stronghold in central Baghdad, and arrested the head of Fadhil’s Awakening Council, Adil al-Mashhadani, on terrorism charges, according to Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, spokesman for the Iraqi security forces in Baghdad.

The Awakening Councils are the Sunni groups supported and given huge amounts of money by the US military, who call them "The Sons of Iraq". In the American victory narrative, the Councils were encouraged to wipe out Al Qa'eda, leading to a sharp reduction in Iraqi violence.

That narrative conveniently omitted the role that intra-Iraq politics might have played beyond the "surge". With many Iraqi towns and neighbourhoods already partitioned and "ethnically cleansed", the question was whether the local Sunni powers being encouraged by the Americans could co-exist with the national Shi'a-led Government.

Despite the obvious tensions in that relationship, that bargain generally held, especially after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki secured his power base in spring 2008. Now, however, the disputes are emerging with a possible vengeance: the central Iraqi authorities are balking at the deal for Sunni militiamen to enter the Iraqi Army and security services, and local leaders like al-Mashhadani are no longer in lock-step with Baghdad.

Thus, the charges of aiding and abetting "terrorism". Al-Mashhadani probably put the cat amongst the pigeons when he said too openly a week ago, "There’s a 50-50 chance that Awakening guys who are not very loyal to Iraq or who need to support their families may decide to join Al Qaeda again."

Thus, the far-from-incidental violence: fifteen people, including some bystanders, were wounded in the gun battle between US and central Iraqi forces and the Awakening Council militiamen. Five Iraqi army personnel have been taken hostage, with their captors demanding Al-Mashhadani's release.

Thus, the political unravelling of the myth of the "surge". Another local Awakening leader, Abu Sejad, accused Baghdad of treating the Councils with a lack of respect and said, “All of our guys are asking, ‘What about us? Are they going to arrest us next?'." Meanwhile, an Iraqi sergeant, "when asked what should happen to al-Mashhadani,...replied by drawing his finger across his neck".

My oh my. Where's General David Petraeus when you need him?