Posted 6/18/2007 05:24:00 PM by Douglas

Arming our enemies. What's the worst that could happen?

A U.S. program to combat al Qaeda in Iraq by arming Sunni Muslims undercuts the Iraqi government and years of U.S. policy, and is a tacit acknowledgment that the country's violence is really a civil war, some U.S. military officials in Washington and foreign policy experts say.

The program, which Bush administration officials have hailed as a sign of progress in Iraq, has sparked heated debate among military and foreign policy analysts. It is opposed by the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Supporters see it as a welcome change in the American approach in Iraq, one whose benefits have been obvious in the drop in violence in Iraq's Anbar province, where al Qaeda formerly held sway. They say it could give impetus to the Shiites and Kurds to make political concessions.

But others contend the program has long-term repercussions that can only be guessed at now. By giving weapons and training to Sunnis in Anbar and Baghdad who've been previously associated with Sunni insurgent groups, the program endorses unofficial armed groups over official Iraqi forces as guarantors of Iraqi security, military officers who oppose the program say.

Really?!? We don't know about the long-term repercussions yet? Really? Have we already forgotten that Osama Bin-Laden (I know, we don't like to talk about him now that Iraq is so popular) was funded and trained by the C.I.A.? Mujahideen, anyone?

What's the worst that could happen, indeed.