14 theSun | TUESDAY APRIL 14 2009

speak up!

Iraq militia fear

Awakening
Councils leader
Sheikh Ahmed
Abu Risha (right)
fires his rifle in
celebration in
January.

reprisals after US exit

by Patrick Cockburn
THEY lost everything when
Saddam Hussein was over-
thrown, but found their way
back to a position of strength
when the United States wooed
them as mercenary troops to
fight against Al Qaeda. But now,
as American troops prepare to go
home, the members of the Sunni
Arab community who worked to
consolidate the country’s fragile
peace once more have reason to
be fearful of the future.
Last weekend was a case in
point. In the latest targeted at-
tack, a suicide bomber, almost
certainly from Al Qaeda, killed
13 and wounded 30 Sunni
paramilitaries. The victims were
all members of the Awakening
Councils, the US-backed militia
groups which switched sides to
great effect to swing the battle
2006 was crucial to ending the
Sunni uprising against the US
occupation, contain many former
anti-American insurgents and Al
Qaeda members. This makes it
easy for Al Qaeda to obtain intelli-
gence on when the paramilitaries
are most vulnerable to attack. A
sign of the deep suspicions divid-
ing members of the Awakening
Councils and the predominantly
Shi’ite government security forces
is that the Sunni fighters had not
been allowed to enter together
the base at Jbala to receive their
pay, which was in any case three
months’ late. Instead of being
protected by the base’s fortifica-
tions the fighters were compelled
to wait in the street outside while
small parties entered the base to
get their money.
The Awakening Councils
have always been suspected by
the Iraqi government, which is
bers have been arrested over the
past year. In Baghdad in March,
assisted by US forces, they moved
against the Sunni fighters in the
al-Fadhil district, a commercial
area in central Baghdad special-
ising in selling building supplies,
timber and metal. Local council
members were arrested or dis-
persed.
The councils in the past have
threatened to become insur-
gents again. “Most of the Sunni
people believe the government
will never allow Al Sahwa to
continue their work and their
role is finished,” said one Sunni
resident of west Baghdad who
did not want his name published.
“The government is wrong if it
thinks this because most of the
Al Sahwa were in Al Qaeda or in
the Islamic Army of Iraq and it is
easy for them to switch back.”
But it may be difficult for the

against America’s enemies.
Once, they fought against the
occupying troops; when they
switched sides, they were brought
on to the US army payroll. But
now their paymasters are leav-
ing, and so the members of the
Awakening Councils will lose the
protection of the American Flag.
Some 250 of the lightly armed
council fighters, also known as
Al Sahwa, or the Sons of Iraq,
were milling around outside an
Iraqi army base in the town of
Jbala, 56km south of Baghdad,
waiting to collect their pay when
the bomber struck on Saturday.
The latest attack shows Al
Qaeda, while weaker than it was
in 2005-07 at the height of the
Sunni-Shi’ite civil war, still has
the ability to recruit, equip and
target suicide bombers in central
and northern Iraq. Last Friday a
truck loaded with 900kg of explo-
sives crashed into the entrance
of the main military base in the
northern city of Mosul, killing five
US soldiers and two members of
the Iraqi security forces.
The Awakening Councils,
whose emergence at the end of
dominated by Shi’ite and Kurds,
of containing many former Baa-
thists and insurgents who cannot
be trusted. The original backlash
against Al Qaeda in overwhelm-
ingly Sunni Anbar province and
in Sunni strongholds in and
around Baghdad was largely
spontaneous.
But the US forces swiftly
gave full backing and pay to the
Awakening Councils, a move
only grudgingly supported by the
Iraqi security forces.
With US soldiers due to
leave on June 30 under a Status
of Forces Agreement signed
between Iraq and the US last
year, many Sunni Arabs and
Awakening Councils members
believe the government will
move against them. Last October
the government agreed to pay the
Awakening Councils members,
but their salaries often arrive late
and sometimes not at all.
The government has also
been averse to giving the para-
militaries the influential jobs in
the security services which they
have demanded. Many Awaken-
ing Councils leaders and mem-
REUTERSPIC
council members to change al-
legiances once again. The Sunni
If we want a unified Iraq, we must work in that
direction, on uniting Sunnis and Shi’ites, to build
one country.”
– Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha,
Leader of Iraq’s Awakening Councils
community to which they belong Awakening Council, leads a
has been seriously weakened. It political party drawn from the
makes up 20% of the Iraqi popu- Awakening movement. He says
lation; the Shi’ites make up 60%. he is renouncing armed struggle
As a result of sectarian cleansing, and is prepared to work with
Baghdad is now overwhelmingly Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Shi’ite. Sunni Iraqis who fled to “If we want a unified Iraq, we
Jordan and Syria have often not must work in that direction, on
returned and, when they do, not uniting Sunnis and Shi’ites, to
to their old homes. build one country,” he said.
The councils are also Whether Sheikh Ahmed’s
disunited. In some areas they are goal can be achieved remains
fighting the government but in to be seen. From their bases in
others they want a share in state Mosul and Baquaba, Al Qaeda
authority and patronage. remains a force to be reckoned
In Ramadi, the capital of An- with. And for the members of the
bar, Sheikh Ahmed Abu Risha, councils, that is a more frighten-
whose brother, later assassinated ing prospect than ever. – The
by Al Qaeda, started the first Independent

Head injuries leading cause of death

comment by
Suguna Loganathan
TRAUMATIC brain injury
is the leading cause of death
and disability every year. It
is a major cause of death and
disability worldwide and the
leading killer of people under
the age of 45.
Major causes of traumatic
brain injury include falls,
road accidents, construction,
violence, and sports.
Sadly, in Malaysia, motor-
cycle fatalities are dispropor-
tionately represented. Statistics
indicated that in 2003 of 6,282
fatalities, almost 60% of them
were motorcyclists. Most of
these motorcycle fatalities
were the result of traumatic
brain injury.
Traumatic brain injury,
which can be mild, moderate,
or severe, results in significant
behavioural, cognitive, and
psychosocial deficits, par-
ticularly attention difficulties,
memory impairment, person-
ality changes, and impaired
interpersonal pragmatics.
The risk for adverse outcome
is correlated with the degree
of severity of the injury. That
is, the likelihood of permanent
deficits increases with injury
severity.
Despite the high incidence
and profound impact of trau-
matic brain injury, it is only
within the last three to four
decades that patients with
head injury have received
comprehensive treatment for
the various deficits that result
from their injury.
This is partly because in
the past it was thought that
a clear distinction existed
between normal functioning
and organic brain damage,
and that organic brain dam-
age was untreatable.
Currently, long-term treat-
ment for the individual with
head injury is limited but
improving.
In Ontario (Canada),
the McGuinty government
has taken several proactive
steps towards prevention of
traumatic brain injuries and
saving lives.
They include implement-
ing initiatives such as helmet
safety education and aware-
ness materials to work toward
Ontario’s youth playing safe,
raising public awareness and
understanding of traumatic
brain injuries and how to
prevent them (especially in
identified communities which
are at greatest risk of injury),
supporting safe environments
that reduce the frequency and
severity of injuries, and engag-
ing communities and stake-
holders through partnerships
to develop and implement
effective injury prevention
strategies and programmes.
To date, there have been
national efforts in Malaysia
to increase the wearing of
properly secured helmets.
For example, in 2002, a
motorcycle safety campaign
was launched to encourage
parents to have their children
wear helmets while they were
pillion riders. The campaign
also focused on getting all
riders to properly strap their
helmets.
These efforts have been
successful to some extent in
increasing helmet use and
increasing the proportion of
helmets that are properly
secured. However, the effec-
tiveness of the campaign – in
terms of increased helmet use
among children and proper
helmet use among adults
– has not been measured.
In addition, Malaysia ap-
pears to be one of the first
countries to adopt a law
passed in 1973 requiring mo-
torcyclists and pillion riders
to wear helmets. But this does
little to reduce the number
of head injuries because the
law is not widely publicised
or enforced.
More needs to be done.
We need to collectively strive
to build public awareness of
traumatic brain injuries by
producing and distributing
important education and
prevention tools.
By raising public aware-
ness, there will be a change
in attitude toward individuals
with brain injury.
Moreover, raising public
awareness of traumatic brain
injuries can result in the
decrease of alarming number
of injuries sustained every
year and an increase in the
number of individuals practis-
ing preventive measures.
It can also help lawmak-
ers see the importance of
maintaining programmes to
better serve individuals with
brain injuries, design reentry
programmes, and increase
their functioning.
Dr Suguna Loganathan is a
lecturer in the Department of
Psychology, Faculty of Behav-
ioural Sciences at H.E.L.P. Uni-
versity College. The information
provided is for educational
purposes only and does not
necessarily reflect the opinion
of H.E.L.P. University College.
Comment: letters@thesundaily.
com