WHY CAN'T EVERYONE BE LIKE MOOKIE?:

Iraqi Government Calls on Other Militias to Follow al-Sadr's Lead, Freeze Activities (VOA News, 31 August 2007)

The Iraqi government has called on the country's armed groups to follow the lead of the Shi'ite Mahdi Army militia and freeze their activities.

In a statement issued late Thursday, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office said Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's decision to halt militia activities provided "a good opportunity" for other militias to suspend their operations in order to maintain stability and sovereignty of Iraq.

Follow the leader.

MORE:
U.S. panel will urge broad overhaul of Iraqi police (David S. Cloud, August 31, 2007, IHT)

An independent commission established by Congress to assess Iraq's security forces will recommend remaking the 26,000-member national police force to purge it of corrupt officers and Shiite militants suspected of complicity in sectarian killings, administration and military officials said Thursday.

The commission, headed by General James L. Jones, the former top United States commander in Europe, concludes that the rampant sectarianism that has existed since the formation of the police force requires that its current units "be scrapped" and reshaped into a smaller, more elite organization, according to one senior official familiar with the findings. The recommendation is that "we should start over," the official said.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 31, 2007 11:20 AM