Doubts persist as Iraq takes over U.S.-backed patrols

From Yahoo via Reuters.

The United States will begin handing over control to the Iraqi government in October of largely Sunni Muslim local guard units credited with helping contain bloodshed across Iraq.

The current plan calls for the Iraqi government to take over payment of over half of the Sons of Iraq in October focusing on Baghdad.

The Iraqi government will take over payment in October of the 54,000 members of the neighborhood units that operate checkpoints and patrol streets in and around Baghdad, U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Kulmayer said in an interview. It will mark the first major step in a delicate transition that U.S. officials hope will ultimately see 20 percent of the U.S.-backed units incorporated into Iraqi security forces. Many in the armed units "were former insurgents, and that's why we call this a reconciliation issue," said Kulmayer, who will oversee the transfer of Awakening units to Iraqi control. "It's important that they're now included in the new Iraq." Under the U.S. and Iraqi plan, those who don't join Iraqi security forces will be given civilian jobs.

How this transition takes place may very well determine the future stability in Iraq.

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