Who would have ever thought...
It's like discovering that Liberace was gay, or Democrats want to increase taxes.
The Shiite leaders are upset about the Sunnis joining more neighborhood watch groups.
It's not surprising, really, because basically we're talking about two groups of people who's idea of government is your oldest uncle.
Oh, and because it's all about the money they get for doing the patrols, not that they actually *want* to help keep their neighborhoods safe fron Al Quada, you know...
The groups have become a controversial aspect of the U.S. military's counter-insurgency strategy in Iraq . More than 75,000 people, 80 percent of them Sunni, have signed up for the groups under a U.S.-sponsored program that pays Iraqis $300 each to patrol their neighborhoods.
The groups began in Anbar province, a predominantly Sunni area, where they're credited with curbing al Qaida in Iraq , but it was the U.S. push to form similar groups in mixed Sunni-Shiite areas of Baghdad and Diyala province, as well as in mostly Shiite southern Iraq , that has sparked the anger of Shiite officials.
Recently, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki , a Shiite, has directed that no councils be formed in the predominantly Shiite areas of southern Iraq , where violence is caused primarily by rivalries between the Mahdi Army militia loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr and the Supreme Council's Badr Organization militia.
In recent weeks, the government has taken steps to quash any possible formation of awakening councils.
Hey guys, if you don't want those watch groups to be controlled by the Sunnis- get your people involved.
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