BAGHDAD — Al-Qaida in Iraq has begun offering cash to lure back former Sunni allies angry over the government's failure to give them jobs and pay their salaries on time, according to Sunni tribesmen and Iraqi officials.
The recruitment drive adds to worries that the terror network is attempting a comeback after the deaths of its two top leaders in April and is taking advantage of a summer of uncertainty. The political stalemate in Baghdad is entering its sixth month after inconclusive elections, just as the U.S. military is rapidly drawing down its forces.
Al-Qaida's strategy is to provoke the Shiite majority into launching revenge attacks, a development that could re-ignite open warfare, split the Iraqi security forces along sectarian lines and cement al-Qaida's leadership role among Sunnis.
Money: For when Allah just isn't a good enough reason to kill people.
