We've got a bigger problem now

From the Whiskey Bar (via Atrios (via GC13) oi via):

The fighting erupted when five trucks of US soldiers and the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (ICDC) tried to enter the district and were attacked by Sadr supporters, Amid said.

Coming under fire, the ICDC, a paramilitary force trained by the Americans, turned on the US soldiers and started to shoot at them, according to Amid.

Yes, you read that correctly. The ICDC, Iraqi soldiers the US trained to work with US troops turned their guns upon US troops. As if it wasn't enough that we are fighting the Sunni's, the Shia launching their own attacks, now the Iraqi troops we've trained are turning against us. If you think we have something to worry about, you're correct. Raed, the Iraqi of Dear Raed fame, has his own blog now. I'll quote part of his post today, a post you should read all of:

So, Bush and Bremer said that all the clashes and attacks are being planed by terrorists, and that?s why the American army is killing and arresting ?bad Iraqis? in those ?bad cities?? those were just minority, but the CPA is going to give freedom and democracy for the majority of Iraqis.

Ok? here is the majority! AsSadr is the majority, he is THE leader of the majority?AsSadr is the symbol of millions in the south who were waiting for Americans come, where is the problem?
Why did Bremer decide to close AsSadr?s newspaper now? And arrest his assistant?
Because the newspaper said that Bremer is acting like a new Saddam?????????
I say that too :*) arrest me.
I think that Bremer acts like a small Saddam sometimes; today he decided to forbidden demonstrations! One year in jail is what you get if you demonstrate without having an approval, to have the approval u must submit a form at least 24 hours before the demonstration with information about why, when, who, how many, bla bla blah..
:*)

The clashes that didn?t happen last year between the CPA and the ?majority? just started, in a bad timing too for Bush and his adminstration.

I think Bremer should write a book under the title ?how to create lose/lose situations?, he closed the newspaper, arrested the assistant, shoot people in demonstrations, attacked Shia neighborhoods and cities, and now? the outlaw thing.

The picture of the day, is for some policemen joining a pro-Sadr demonstrations at Basra, where people occupied the governorate building, maybe that would be a message to the CPA that feelings of belonging to the social and cultural structure in the south are much stronger than the $60 salary.

Believe me, Bremer and Bush are totally lost; most of the time they don?t know what they want to do, and when they do, they don?t know how to do it.

Believe me, they are playing with fire.

Keep in mind that this is coming from an Iraqi. Raed has forgotten more about Iraqi then Bush will ever learn, and he's telling us that we're completely fucked.

This worries me. There's no way we can launch a successful military operation in a country where the citizens hate us and are willing to take up arms against us; especially when you don't know which Iraqi is your friend or foe. Listening to NPR today, a reporter said a Marine told him he couldn't tell which Iraqis were on his side. Using children as an example, he said that some wish you luck and others wish your death.

We had this same problem in Vietnam. Not only was the populace against us, but we couldn't tell friend from foe apart. It was impossible. And when you don't know who you foe is, how can you possibly fight them?

Given the campaign season and the deadline Bush has set to hand over government to the Iraqi's, you really have to wonder if he has a clue. His actions seem to be politically motivated so that he can brush Iraq aside before the election, help his chances of staying in the White House for another four years. But it looks like Iraq has blown up in his face, a situation which I don't relish in because it's taking the lives of Americans and Iraqis. Aa far as I'm concerned, Bush's selfish lust for power is murdering innocent people.

We can't win this thing if Iraqis want us out of the country, and and willing to kill US troops to end the occupation. Now matter how many troops we send in, we'll never win this thing. We can't repeat the mistakes of the past, we've got to pull out. But at the same time, we created his mess in Iraq and it's our responsibility to clean it up. Not only is it our responsibility, but if Iraq in it's current state is left unchecked, it will become the biggest hot spot in the world, possibily setting off a larger war in the Middle East, spreading to Turkey, and could escalate the situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Bush really didn't think this through before invading Iraq. We've got to get out, but we've also got to stay in. What do we do now?