Institute for Public Accuracy, News Release, 11 September 2007
RICK ROWLEY: Just back from a month and a half in Iraq, Rowley is a journalist with Big Noise films. He said today: “When Gen. Petraeus says that he’s merely applauding the new Sunni militia allies from the sidelines, he’s lying. While embedded with the U.S. military, I filmed U.S. commanders handing wads of cash to tribal militias. And when he says that the U.S. military is facilitating their integration into Iraq’s security forces, what he means is that the U.S. military is pressuring Iraq’s government to incorporate these militias wholesale into the police forces. In fact, that’s one of the promises that these tribes are given — that after working with the Americans for a few months, they’ll become Iraqi police, be armed by the Iraqi state and be put on regular payroll.”
Rowley co-produced a special report “The Ghost of Anbar” with journalist David Enders which aired on Al-Jazeera English; also on YouTube. More Information
This IPA news release also quotes A. K. Gupta and Ray McGovern.