The Good:
Grand Ayatollah Sistani, a tremendously influential Shiite in Iraq, called for not just an end to bloodshed between Sunni and Shiite, but for Shiites to start protecting their Sunni countrymen. This, coupled with the Sadr ceasefire, will hopefully further curb sectarian strife that has plagued Baghdad and other parts of Iraq. Of course you're not going to hear about it from Iraq-war cheerleaders on the right, since they are still under the impression that US troops are bunch of Christian values-conservatives waging holy war in this country. Check out this Malkinesque Hot Air Post on the evils of atheism and tell me that they don't have a bizarre religious agenda. The CLC or "Concerned Local Citizens" movement is getting even bigger and has been quite effective at putting the kaibash on Al-Qaeda in the Sunni areas of Iraq as they establish neighborhood watch-style programs. But will they turn against the Shiite dominated government? That's a big concern, and Irritated Vet raises issues of their credibility in this VetVoice post here (check the comments). I agree, we can only guarantee that these guys, some are ex-insurgents, play along with the central Iraqi government if there is nation-wide reconciliation, which bring us to...
The Bad:
Iraqi parliamentarians are still duking it out over De-Baathification reform. Which would be a big help to empower the minority Sunnis, but the government has resorted to pissing and moaning about green zone security. I have no idea why. Check out the Huffington Post where it suggests that US soldiers are to blame, since "we destroyed their country" according to one commenter, sigh. Glad to know the folks on HuffPost are supportive of their military. Iraq's
government certainly needs to get with the program as this country isn't going to reconcile without a lot of laws and policies in place.
The Ugly:
Blackwater steroid scandal?!? Blackwater seems to be the issue that just won't go away. While I can vouch that the Blackwater dudes are huge, I think the media has taken this issue too far (the massacre in Nissour square was over 2 months ago). While policy needs some serious revamping regarding private security in Iraq, let's keep the OJ-style theatrics out of the equation. Although, hanging with the nerd crowd in highschool, I'm always afraid these dudes are gonna wedgie and/or swirly me. A much more uglier issue is the car bombs found at Dulaimi's house, the leader of Iraqi Accordance Front (the big Sunni bloc in Iraq's parliament). This is a disturbing development indeed, and we would be wise to keep an eye on this one...
Check out those snazzy reflective belts for the CLC
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