Lusk, commander of the 30th Heavy Brigade Team and based in Baghdad,
said about 20,000 Sunni militiamen continue to operate in the Baghdad area, Middle East Newsline reported.
He said this comprised the largest force in the area.
Officials said the dismantling of Sahwa has moved slowly largely because
of Sunni resistance as well as a government budget shortfall. They said
about 3,000 Sunni auxiliary police officers deployed in Baghdad were
transferred to
government posts in 2009. At the same time, the United States relayed
responsibility for
Sahwa to the Iraqi government, which has been paying salaries for nearly a
year.
In a Nov. 10 briefing, Lusk said Sahwa would be required to maintain
security for national elections scheduled for January 2010. The Baghdad area
contains 10,000 Iraqi soldiers and 5,000 regular and federal police.
"Now, the challenges that they have before them is the need to fulfill
this obligation of transitioning the Sons of Iraq into government jobs
versus when to do so, especially keeping in mind the security needs leading
up to the elections," Lusk said. "And while I have absolutely no insight as
to what they're deciding now, I can only imagine that it's got to be a
pretty daunting decision that they're getting ready to go through."
Sahwa has been credited with significantly reducing the Al Qaida
presence in Baghdad and the Anbar province. Sahwa contained members of major
Sunni tribes capable of identifying Al Qaida and operatives of the ousted
Saddam Hussein regime.
Some of the tribesmen were said to have been targeted by Al Qaida and
Saddam operatives. On Nov. 16, suspected Saddam operatives dressed in Iraq
Army uniforms killed at least 13 tribal members who belonged to Sahwa.
"Now, this fruitful and productive relationship with our Iraqi security
force partners has resulted in the reduction of capabilities for Al Qaida in
Iraq operating within our operating environment, as well as the reduction in
capacity of former special groups and other rejectionists," Lusk said.
