[link|http://rawstory.com/news/2007/US_confirms_it_arming_Sunni_insurgents_0610.html|Raw Story]

The U.S. military has confirmed that it is arming Sunni insurgent factions to try to contain al-Qaida in Mesopotamia, according to a report in Monday's New York Times by veteran Iraq correspondent John Burns.

"With the four-month-old increase in American troops showing only modest success in curbing insurgent attacks, American commanders are turning to another strategy that they acknowledge is fraught with risk: arming Sunni Arab groups that have promised to fight militants linked with Al Qaeda who have been their allies in the past."

American officers acknowledge that it is arming some groups that are suspected to have been involved in American attacks as well as link to Al Qaeda. Some American officers maintain they are simply arming both sides of a civil war.

Really, really bad sign. Even under the best of circumstances, the tactic of arming one side of an internal dispute is a difficult tactic to use. And trying to use after you have invaded the country is almost always a last resort tactic right before total failure. Because at that point anybody that would deal with the invading country can't be trusted.

Jay

If I was an insurgent in a situation like this I would ask for rifles captured during US raids. They would blend in a lot better then US rifles or even newly manufactured AK rifles. And the last thing an insurgent wants is to be tied as being a US tool.

Jay