One of the latest twists to the horrific drama being played out in Iraq for the past five years has been the rise of the so-called Awakening Councils (or Sahwa, as they are known in Arabic).
These American paid, American armed tribal militias of over 80,000 mainly Sunni Arab men have been credited with assisting the United States in its "surge" and bringing relative security to the streets of Baghdad, Baquba, Ramadi and beyond.
In a country where unemployment is more than 40 per cent, it would be fair to argue that most of these men are in it for the money. They are paid at least $10 a day (therefore $300 a month) by the Americans, not a small sum by present Iraqi standards.
Besides, many believe the Councils - chiefly made up of former insurgents who have now turned their guns against the mindless extremists of Al Qaida in Iraq - have achieved in a year what the US army could not achieve in five. But there is more to the story than meets the eye.
Historically, occupying powers have found that their interests are best served when communities within the occupied nation fear each other more than they despise the foreign occupier.
To a great extent, US policy in Iraq is increasingly geared in a manner that is making all opposing factions within the country willingly accept the idea of an open-ended US military presence.
They see the US as a guarantor of their position inside the country, and dread the day the occupier leaves, as then they will be at the mercy of their domestic enemies. This division and hatred in Iraqi society is one of the legacies of George W. Bush's war.
Same people
What we have in Iraq today is the classic strategy of divide and rule. On the one hand the US is sponsoring the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and Iraq's (again, Shiite-dominated) security forces, numbering about 400,000.
On the other, the US is also creating Sunni militias that are not, in practice, really answerable to the government in Baghdad.
The Councils take their orders from the US authorities, and their militiamen were, until recently, fighting government security forces (and also the Americans). In some cases, the tribal shaikhs who head the Councils are the same people who once formed the core of support for Saddam Hussain's government.
Besides, the prime minister and members of his cabinet, all safely ensconced in the so-called Green Zone, have made no secret of their unease about the establishment of these Councils.
They see the militiamen as an unwelcome counter-weight to their own security forces and (hypocritically) their allied-militias, like the Badr Brigades and Moqtada Al Sadr's Mahdi Army.
What is to become of the Sahwa when the US army - one day, presumably - leaves Iraq? At the rate at which their numbers are increasing, the Councils are bound to get stronger, both in numbers and as a fighting force.
What will be the role of these militarily trained and armed men in Iraq then? Will they accept the writ of the government in Baghdad, which has clearly shown its unwillingness to incorporate them into the security services of the country?
Shocking comments
Or will they, as many fear, ensure a continuation of the sectarian war that has brought much death and destruction to this long-suffering country?
On a surprise visit to Iraq on Monday, US Vice-President Dick Cheney shockingly declared that the 2003 invasion was a "successful endeavour". How he could brand a war that was waged on a false premise, led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and tore the social fabric of the country apart, "successful", only he can explain.
The future of Iraq, and America's role in it, is as unclear today as it was when this illegal war began five years ago.
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