Killers and Extremists in the Pay of Petraeus

Annals of Liberation: Killers and Extremists in the Pay of Petraeus
More news rolls in about the "successful tactics" being employed by the U.S. commandant in Iraq, General David Gaius Julius Petraeus. As we have noted here before, much of the relative drop in the death rate in the still-fertile killing fields of Iraq can be attributed to one of Petraeus' bold "counterinsurgency" innovations: surrendering whole swathes of territory to your enemy – and paying them handsomely for the privilege – in exchange for their promise not to kill your own troops for awhile.

Not since the Civil War days of George McClellan has an American general been so feted and trumpeted for his crushing defeats – although not even McClellan went as far as paying Rebel guerrillas like Bill Quantrill and his murderous bushwhackers to take over chunks of Union territory and run it as a personal fiefdom. But that is exactly what Petraeus is doing in Iraq. He is shelling out millions in taxpayer dollars to groups that only a few weeks ago were killing Americans and launching terrorist attacks with their allies in the extremist bands loosely grouped under the rubric "al Qaeda." (It's obvious that "al Qaeda" is losing its brand specificity and, like "xerox" or "zipper," is becoming a generic term applied to all manner of items beyond the original product.) More...