This is the ulitmate expression of anarchy in Iraq

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Iraqi politicians call on civilians to arm themselves after violent weekend claims 220 lives

Associated Press
July 8, 2007 12:06 PM

BAGHDAD (AP) - Prominent Shiite and Sunni politicians called on Iraqi civilians to take up arms to defend themselves after a weekend of violence that claimed more than 220 lives, including 60 who died Sunday in a surge of bombings and shootings around Baghdad.

During a press conference Sunday in Baghdad, Abbas al-Bayati, a Shiite Turkoman lawmaker, criticized the security situation in Armili, saying its police force had only 30 members and that the Interior Ministry had finally responded to requests for reinforcements only two days before the attack.

In the absence of enough security forces, al-Bayati said authorities should help residents ''arm themselves'' or their own protection.

The call for civilians to take up arms in their own defense was echoed Sunday by the country's Sunni Arab vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi, who said all Iraqis must ''pay the price'' for terrorism.

''People have a right to expect from the government and security agencies protection for their lives, land, honor and property,'' al-Hashemi said in a statement. ''But in the case of (their) inability, the people have no choice but to take up their own defense.''

He said the government should provide communities with money, weapons and training and ''regulate their use by rules of behavior.''

Another prominent Sunni lawmaker, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had failed to provide services and security but he stopped short of saying his followers would seek to topple the Shiite-led government.

''The situation has become terribly bad,'' al-Dulaimi told The Associated Press. ''All options are open for us. We are going to study the situation thoroughly, and we are going to look into the possible measures which go with the interests of the Iraqi people. We will also consider whether to keep on with the government or not.''

http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=565048152588419932



All of this is being presented by the military as progress toward their goal of Iraqis assuming responsibility for their own defense, but it's really just a sad reflection of the unraveling of Bush's protection racket. Our forces fostered and fueled the civil war and it mushroomed, predictably, beyond our forces' ability to contain it. Game over.


http://journals.democraticunderground.com/bigtree

[Cooley Hurd]

1. My congresswoman, Kirsten Gillibrand, just got back from there...

...and she made no bones about it being a hellhole.:(

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2. It's amazing how republicans can come back from there

and downplay and deny the catastrophe

[Tesha]

3. Maybe they can get a grant from the NRA?

Upholding your right to keep and bear rocket-
propelled grenades and IEDs and the like...

Tesha