A Seized Arms Cache In IraqSecuring Baghdad With Militiamen -- BBC News
As Washington and Baghdad hammer out an agreement on the future of US troops in Iraq, Crispin Thorold meets some of the Sunni militiamen at the heart of the new security policy.
Adhamiyah was once at the heart of the Sunni insurgency but this area has been transformed in the past year. The US forces in this Baghdad district now spend most of their time patrolling rather than fighting.
A major shift in security came when local tribesmen began policing the area. The Sons of Iraq - also known as the Tribal Awakening - once fought against the Americans but now they are challenging al-Qaeda.
In the heart of Adhamiyah is the Abu Hanifa mosque, one of the most important shrines for Sunni Muslims in Iraq.
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My Comment: Hiring mercenaries .... and these men with guns are being hired by the U.S. Army to do military related security work .... in this case it has worked. The problem now is what to do with them since the war is over. Some hard decisions will have to be made in the next year, and it will be the Iraqi Government and Iraqi politics that will decide the fate of these men.