On the Sunni Side of the Street

[Overpaid Slacker]

The Associated Press brings this excellent news from Baghdad:

Influential Sunni scholars encouraged Iraqis to join the country's security forces and protect the country, issuing an edict Friday that departed sharply from earlier warnings against participating in the fledgling police and army. . . .

Friday's edict, endorsed by a group of 64 Sunni clerics and scholars, instructed enlistees to refrain from helping foreign troops against their own countrymen.

But Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samarrai, a cleric in the influential Association of Muslim Scholars who read the edict during a sermon at a major Sunni mosque, said joining the Iraqi security forces was now necessary to prevent the country from falling into "the hands of those who have caused chaos, destruction and violated the sanctities."

If heeded, the announcement could strengthen Iraqi security forces, who are trying to take over the fight against the Sunni-led insurgency.

Don't forget, back in January the doomsayers were urging the postponement of Iraq's election for fear of Sunni nonparticipation leading to a civil war. Their streak of wrong predictions remains unbroken. (emphasis added)

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