Via the NYT: Sunni Clerics Urge Followers to Join Iraq Army and Police
A group of Sunni Arab clerics, including some hard-line figures who fiercely oppose the American presence here, issued a statement on Friday urging their fellow Sunni Arabs to join the Iraqi Army and police.The edict, signed by 64 imams and religious scholars, was a striking turnaround for the clerics, who have often lashed out in sermons at the fledgling army and police force and branded them collaborators.
Prominently missing from the signers was Harith al-Dari, the leader of the Association of Muslim Scholars and one of the most influential Sunni Arab clerics in Iraq, who is said to have close ties to the insurgency.
Still, the directive, which carried the signature of Ahmed Hassan al-Taha, an imam at an important Baghdad mosque who has been a strong critic of the occupation, seemed to represent a significant step.
Interesting, and potentially encouraging. However, with instructions such as these, the overall goal and impact of the move is questionable:
The edict contained a condition seemingly aimed at sweetening the pill for resistant Sunni Arabs: that a new police or army recruit must agree “not to help the occupier against his compatriots.”
Stiill, the integration of the Sunnis into the institutions of the state is vital, and there do seem to be signs of late that various Sunni segments are willing to do so.