Sons of Iraq militants in Samarra, Iraq
The Sons of Iraq, also known as the Awakening Councils or the Sunni Awakening movement, were United States-sponsored groups of Sunni tribal militias in Iraq that fought against al-Qaeda in Iraq during the Iraq War from 2005 to 2013. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki refused to allow them to join the security forces of the government, leading to many of them joining the Islamic State or being unemployed.
History[]
Sons of Iraq fighters being paid.
The Sons of Iraq movement was formed in 2005 by Abdul Sattar Abu Risha and other Sunni tribal sheiks in Anbar Province, particularly the city of Ramadi. The Sunni sheikhs were not very enthusiastic about the United States entering the country and toppling the Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein, replacing him with a sectarian government mostly made up of Kurds and Shi'ites. However, al-Qaeda in Iraq took over Ramadi and began to wrestle the sheikhs for power, and the Sons of Iraq/Awakening Councils were formed by the Sunni tribes in response to the insurgency against the government and the US Army.
Downfall[]
The leaders of the Sunni Awakening with American officers
The Iraqi government was not directly associated with the Awakening Councils, and Ahmed Abu Risha criticized the government for not supplying the rebels with arms or paying them. The Sons of Iraq militias were assisted by the United States in their formation, but many of them were former insurgents or Iraqi Army officers that were simply joining the militias to maintain security in their neighborhoods. In 2011, the United States withdrawal pressured the Iraqi government to organize a resistance against the insurgents, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki decided not to integrate the Sons of Iraq into the military, leading to many of them being unemployed and some of those joining the Islamic State for money. The anti-Sunni violence and the sidelining of Sunni leaders led to Shias replacing the Sunnis in leadership and government posts, and the Sons of Iraq dissolved.