'Legitimate concerns' about arming Iraqi rebels: US commander(Petreaus deployment could be a decade)

AFP/Pool/File Photo:

Source: AFP
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Coalition commander General David Petraeus said Sunday there were "legitimate concerns" about a new US tactic in Iraq of arming Sunni insurgents against Al-Qaeda extremists.
But speaking on Fox News after criticism of the tactic from Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Petraeus said it was still a viable way of pressing the fight in Iraq against Al-Qaeda.
Asked if the US-supplied weapons could later be turned on US forces or Shiite Muslims, the general said: "Well, those are legitimate concerns, and we have the same concerns."
But he said that US military commanders were trying to vet their new local allies "as best we can" through compiling biometric data and keeping track of weapons serial numbers.
In comments published Saturday by Newsweek magazine, Maliki warned that the new US tactic was "dangerous because this will create new militias."
"I believe that the coalition forces do not know the backgrounds of the tribes. It is a job of the (Iraqi) government," he added.

LinkHere