U.S. Allies in Iraq Rejoining Al Qaeda

From the moment I watched the Chimperator announce the launch of the invasion of Iraq I have always sensed that the entire endeavor was a fool's errand motivated by the Chimperator's personal psychological issues and Emperor Palpatine Cheney's greed to enrich Haliburton and the oil industry. Thousands of Americans have died - not to mention that tens of thousands of Iraqis have died - and they nation's deficit has sky rocketed. And it has all been largely for nothing. The New York Times is reporting that America's so called "allies" in Iraq are rejoining Al Qaeda. I could have predicted as much. I cannot help but wonder what families who lost loved ones must/will be feeling as the realization sets in that their loved one died for nothing. Here are some disturbing story highlights:
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Although there are no firm figures, security and political officials say hundreds of the well-disciplined fighters — many of whom have gained extensive knowledge about the American military — appear to have rejoined Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. Beyond that, officials say that even many of the Awakening fighters still on the Iraqi government payroll, possibly thousands of them, covertly aid the insurgency.
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The Awakening members’ switch in loyalties poses a new threat to Iraq’s tenuous social and political balance during the country’s ongoing political crisis and as the United States military prepares to withdraw next year.
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As part of the militants’ unusual, though often convincing strategy, Awakening members that Al Qaeda fails to kill are then sought out to rejoin the insurgency. They are offered larger paychecks than their $300 a month government pay and told that they would be far safer.
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The government, which says it is trying to integrate the Awakening into broader Iraqi society, has further angered the group recently by confiscating its weapons, saying Awakening fighters lack proper permits, and stripping some fighters of their ranks, which the government says were not properly earned.
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Leaders of the Awakening, who so far do not appear to be among those leaving, say they are not surprised about the defections given what they call the group’s marginalization by the government and its abandonment by the American military.
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One Awakening leader in Diyala, Bakr Karkhi, said during an interview that nearly two dozen of his fighters had rejoined Al Qaeda during the past few weeks, a process he said had been occurring throughout Sunni areas of Iraq.
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Awakening fighters say recent entreaties by Al Qaeda — messages that have been passed along by relatives or posted on Internet Web sites — have included pledges not to disrupt tribal traditions, one of the issues that drove a wedge between the majority of Sunni tribes and the insurgency.

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The USA made a bad situation far worse and now the fruits of the misadventure may soon come clear. Meanwhile, Bush and Cheney escape from facing any consequences for taking the nation to war on fabricated evidence. Oh, and did I forget to mention war crimes in violation of the Geneva Conventions?