"WE" are telling Iraqis to "take up arms?"

[Sparkly]

Just heard this on Joe Scarborough's MSNBC morning show (hate to admit I even have that on) but can't find a news story confirming it.

Who the hell is telling Iraqis to "take up arms" and "defend themselves?" WHICH Iraqis are we telling to do that -- all, or have we taken sides now? I guess "we" have given up on trying to get people to put DOWN their weapons.

[babylonsister]

1. Scarborough's full of it; the Iraqi gov't is suggesting that. Here's a thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1280611&mesg_id=1280611

[Sparkly]

4. "The calls"

It's confusing. "The calls for the arming of civilians to fight insurgents reflected the growing frustration with Iraqi security forces' inability to prevent extremists' attacks." Whose calls? Both US and Iraqi leaders?

The idea of organizing local communities for their own defense has caught on here in recent months following the success of Sunni Arab tribes in Anbar province that took up arms to help drive al-Qaida from their towns and villages.

U.S. and Iraqi officials have said they hope to replicate the "Anbar model" elsewhere in the country, albeit under government supervision and control.

U.S. commanders have long believed the key to restoring security was the ability of Iraqi forces to hold on to areas cleared by American troops. Several senior U.S. officers have questioned whether the Iraqi police and army were capable of preventing insurgents from returning once the Americans had left.

Local defense forces would offer a way to compensate for weaknesses in the Iraqi police and army, but without careful controls, the system could backfire by promoting more militias in a country already awash in weapons.

[babylonsister]

6. I don't know specifically who came up with this brilliant idea, but as

Lasher noted downthread, if they aren't already armed, I'd be surprised. Maybe now our troops won't be bashing in doors confiscating their weapons.

[Cooley Hurd]

2. I think it was the Iraqi govt telling Iraqis to get armed and protect themselves

I saw a thread on it here, but can't find it now...:shrug:

On edit - see babylonsister's post above mine.:)

[bdamomma]

3. I thought they were trying to down scale the violence guess not.

[Lasher]

5. You would have to be a pretty stupid Iraqi if you hadn't already armed yourself

Here's links:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1280556

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1280611

[MiaCulpa]

8. They're probably damned if the do and damned if they don't

Armed = insurgent and military kills them. Unarmed = Dead anyways.

[Lasher]

9. This move by the Iraqi government will improve on that arrangement.

Now they can pack heavy and the military shouldn't kill them for being armed, since the Iraqi government is taking this position. I think it's a good move. I assure you, the bad guys will be much more reluctant to stop a car to take hostages if they think there's a good chance every member of the family has a locked and loaded AK-47.

The Iraqis are suffering terribly, and it's getting worse.

[MiaCulpa]

7. The Iraqi Foreign Minister

In the absence of enough security forces, al-Bayati said authorities should help residents "arm themselves" for 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 the government should provide communities with money, weapons and training and "regulate their use by rules of behavior."

"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."

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070709/API/707090506