Mixon: Sunni 'Volunteer' police force expanding to Tarmiyah, Balad, Muqdadiya, Tikrit and Baiji

Above: A 'Critical Infrastructure Security Contract Force volunteer' stands with an Iraqi army soldier at a checkpoint in Tarmiyah last week. The program includes 'former insurgents'.

Sunni Arab sheikhs in Saddam Hussein’s hometown Tikrit and in other regions north of Baghdad have begun forming tribal police units to combat Al Qaeda, a senior US general said.

Major — General Benjamin Mixon said tribal “awakening” councils, under which local men sign up to police their own communities, had begun to spread across his area of command, which covers several provinces including Diyala and Salahuddin...

They were also beginning to form in the predominantly Sunni Arab town of Muqdadiya along with Tarmiya and Balad, where several hundred were guarding their own communities.

“We even have a couple of groups from Tikrit to Baiji that have signed up,” Mixon, commander of about 31,000 US troops in the region, said in a telephone interview late on Wednesday.

Many Sunni Arabs in Tikrit, capital of Salahuddin province, have remained fiercely loyal to the former president, who was ousted in 2003 after the US — led invasion of Iraq.

Read the rest at Khaleej Times

Related Link:
Sunni recruits to police volatile Abu Ghraib after one month training; Force includes 'former insurgents'

Related Link:
Report: Bush approves more money to Sunnis in end-run around Maliki

Related Link:
Sutherland: 'Former' insurgents who attacked, killed U.S. troops now 'patriots'

Related Link:
Report: U.S. moves forward with plan to hire Sunni 'guardians' for Iraqi neighborhoods

Related Link:
Perspective: 'Former' insurgents become 'security contractors'... for now

Related Link:
Perspective: 'This is a seed for civil war'

Related Link:
Sources: U.S. increasing funding, support of armed civilian militias

Related Link:
Aide: Maliki may ask Petraeus be sent home

Related Link:
Report: Insurgent leaders hold planning meeting in Damascus

Related Link:
Reports: Seven Sunni insurgent groups form political alliance

Related Link:
Key Advisor: Maliki has problems with Petraeus' "purely American vision"; Says Patraeus' policy arming insurgents "will leave Iraq an armed nation"

Related Link:
General Fil: U.S. enlisting tribal and 'former' insurgent fighters by the hundreds daily

Related Link:
Report: U.S. begins 'major offensive' in Iraq; 'Former' insurgents part of push

Related Link:
Maliki: U.S. arming of Sunni tribes 'is dangerous because this will create new militias'

Related Link:
Perspective: Arms deal with Iraqi tribes could spell success... or disaster

Related Link:
Opinion (Robert Fox): Putting out a fire with gasoline

Related Link:
Lynch: US will continue to back Sunni tribal police even as Anbar force splinters

Related Link:
Report: U.S. providing 'former' insurgent Sunni groups with arms, ammunition, cash, fuel and supplies; Same groups may have killed American troops

Related Link:
Report: Pro-U.S. Tribal Coalition in Anbar Said to Be Crumbling

Related Link:
Insurgent group announces cease-fire with al-Qaeda

Related Link:
Odierno: Commanders at all levels told to 'reach out' to insurgents 'because there are insurgents reaching out to us'