Boston Globe

U.S. should stop arming Sunni militias: PM Maliki
June 17, 2007

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States runs the risk of creating new militias in Iraq if it arms Sunni Arab tribesmen indiscriminately to battle al Qaeda, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said.

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Maliki gave the first indication his government disagrees with the U.S. military policy of arming and equipping Sunni Arab tribes to fight al Qaeda militants under a model first used in Anbar province.

"We want to arm some tribes that want to side with us but on condition that we should be well aware of the tribe's background and sure that it is not connected with terror," Maliki said.

"Some (U.S.) field commanders make mistakes since they do not know the facts about people they deal with. I believe the Coalition forces do not know the background of the tribes," he told Newsweek on Friday.

This is where the gang war metaphor fits so well.

The field commanders have no freakin' clue who is who and which side they are on, so even discounting that this sounds like a really bad idea anyway, they run the risk of giving arms to terrorists.

Next time someone says to you "The execution of the war was mishandled" like they are wont to, remind them that crap like this is ongoing.