Sunni Reawakening in Iraq Hinges on National Guard

The U.S.-backed plan for an Iraqi National Guard to recruit and support Sunnis fighting Islamic State, a linchpin of President Barack Obama’s strategy, faces an immediate political test and an uncertain outlook.

Pressed by the Obama administration, new Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi is scheduled to send parliament legislation tomorrow aimed in part at reprising the Sunni Awakening movement that fought al-Qaeda alongside the U.S. military in Anbar province a decade ago. Locally recruited guard forces would provide Sunni boots on the ground to combat extremists in provinces hostile to Iraq’s Shiite-dominated military.