Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Iraq, the unraveling (XXXIII): the Anbar killings

Best Defense is in Summer re-runs. This item originally ran on November 19, 2009.  Iraq’s vice president, a Sunni Arab, says the recent killing of 13 people associated with a local political leader in eastern Anbar province was carried out by Iraqi army troops commanded by Colonel Raheem Kareem Resan. This somewhat undercuts the "those ...

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AZHAR SHALLAL/AFP/Getty Images
AZHAR SHALLAL/AFP/Getty Images
AZHAR SHALLAL/AFP/Getty Images

Best Defense is in Summer re-runs. This item originally ran on November 19, 2009. 

Best Defense is in Summer re-runs. This item originally ran on November 19, 2009. 

Iraq’s vice president, a Sunni Arab, says the recent killing of 13 people associated with a local political leader in eastern Anbar province was carried out by Iraqi army troops commanded by Colonel Raheem Kareem Resan. This somewhat undercuts the "those crazy Anbaris and their wacky tribal disputes" line previously issued by the Baghdad government.

Also, someone is bombing the houses of policemen in Fallujah.

It looks to me like relations between Iraqi security forces and the people of al Anbar are deteriorating. If this is the wave of the future, fasten your seatbelts for 2010.

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1
Tags: Iraq, Middle East and North Africa

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