This is dangerously close to realistic politics, for the US in Iraq. As usual, Patrick Lang is on the case:
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_s...ary_frien.html
Quote:
Can you trust them? Will they be loyal to the Americans (or the government)? Is this "paying protection money?" Will this hurt the Iraqi government?
The answers; No. Not necessarily. No. Maybe (So what!)
- You can't logically make a comparison between 1 - paying a hoodlum in the US not to beat you up and 2 - supporting a dissident guerrilla leader who may be of use to you in an insurgency in a foreign country. This is isn't Sunday School, folks. Did you really think that the various kinds of Iraqis were going to become ardent candidates for Alderman, Councilman, Member of School Board, etc. just because you think they should be eager to be what you think they should be? If you do think that, you should get out more.
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It's been pretty obvious that reckless al-Qaeda style extremism is Not Popular in huge swathes of the Muslim world, mainly those that have to pick up the pieces (it is quite popular in parts of the Pakistani ruling elite though, which is where most of the trouble these days starts). This doesn't mean that the Pax Americana is necessarily particularly popular, nor, in the case of Anbar Sunnis, the fact that Iran is now calling the shots. They don't like any of them, much, but the AQ boys killing Shias (and moderate Sunnis - AQ have been blowing up mosques recently) really gets to them in terms of inciting retaliation they could really do without. There's also nothing in it for them, of course.
I'm not sure how this fits with the US claiming that Iran was supplying Sunni extremists with weapons, though. That was supposed to be a Bad Thing, I seem to remember. Joe Liebermann thinks the US should bomb Iran now because of it, in fact (but he is, of course, an idiot).