Clerics Urge Iraqis to Join Security Force

I highlighted the last two grafs there because I think the reporter assumes too much.

It could just as well mean the Sunni clerics are concerned the Iraqi police and army will become Shia organizations, IMO.

Shrub better not rule out a civil war yet.

What this means is that the Sunnis are afraid that the Shia and Kurds will fill up the new Iraqi military with Shia and Kurds and the Sunnis will be cut out. I suspect the Sunnis are going to try to fill up the new Iraq Army with as many men as possible as quickly as possible to counter the Kurds and Shia that are joining up in massive numbers.

Here's a quote from the cleric in question:

“Why do we have people from the north or south coming to our cities. We want people from our cities to be serving their own people.”

link

which puts a distinctly less positive spin on the situation.

the Military, Police and Prison Gaurds and do their work from the inside?

It's talking about how there are militias being formed by the Sunnis in retaliation to the Shias abuse of power. It goes on to mention the risks of civil war due to the imbalance of power.

Here's the link...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1358954

From the Yahoo article in the link:

snip...
The recent unrest, though, rather than coming from the top leadership of political and religious parties, is springing largely from the grass-roots of Iraqi society. It involves neighborhood-based forces, with Sunnis and Shiites seeking to protect themselves from each other or to exact revenge, and it chips away at Iraq's national unity.

More than eight months after the interim Iraqi government announced that the nation's largest Shiite and Kurdish militias would disband, they're still functioning.
snip...

Between the neighborhood militias and a general distrust of security forces, Iraq is a tinderbox waiting for a spark, said Hassan al Ani, a Baghdad University political professor and analyst.

"We can't forget what happened in Lebanon," he said, referring to the 15-year civil war there that killed thousands in vicious fighting between religious sects and their militias.

more...
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/krwashbureau/20050331/ts_krwashbureau/_bc_usiraq_militia_wa&cid=2270&ncid=1473

I feel this general atmosphere in Iraq is what's influencing clerics to encourage joining the police and army. I'm more worried now than ever about a civil war.

Right now Kurds and shiites are getting free training, equiptment, and access to Sunni Territory. Since all sides now some kind of civil breakdown, the Sunnis know they gotta get access to some of these weapons now too.