Have pointed out here before Secy Gates comments about paying off (let's just say bribing, shall we) the Sunnis in Iraq with money and weapons is a strategy the US likes. But what does paying off the sheiks (for example, in Anbar Province, where Bush likes to point to quiet) actually DO?

Abu Abed, a member of the insurgent Islamic Army, has recently become the commander of the US-sponsored "Ameriya Knights". He is one of the new breed of Sunni warlords who are being paid by the US to fight al-Qaida in Iraq. The Americans call their new allies Concerned Citizens.

Boy, is THAT a name designed to hide what they are. But the Bush administration is good at that. Remember their Clean Skies initiative? Or perhaps Compassionate Conservative while Bush vetos SChip.

It is a strategy that has worked well for the Americans, on paper at least. This week, the US military claimed it had forced the extremist group al-Qaida in Mesopotamia out of Baghdad altogether, and cut the number of murders in the city by 80%. Major General Joseph Fil, commander of US forces in Baghdad, said: "The Iraqi people have decided that they've had it up to here with violence."

Yeah. As long as you pay them enough. And um, let's remember, we don't have enough money to build VA treatment centers here and must rely on PRIVATE donations????????

Critics of the plan say they are simply creating powerful new strongmen who run their own prisons and armies, and who eventually will turn on each other.

A senior Sunni sheikh, whose tribe is joining the new alliance with the Americans against al-Qaida, told me in Beirut that it was a simple equation for him. "It's just a way to get arms, and to be a legalised security force to be able to stand against Shia militias and to prevent the Iraqi army and police from entering their areas," he said.

"The Americans lost hope with an Iraqi government that is both sectarian and dominated by militias, so they are paying for locals to fight al-Qaida. It will create a series of warlords.

Go read the article and see what Democracy-Bush-Iraq-Style really is.