nothing like fighting an insurgency with one hand tied behind your back

[winterbadger]

Iraq Says Troops Will Stop Raiding Mosques
The Iraqi government said Monday that its soldiers would no longer raid mosques in their fight against insurgents, ending a practice that Sunni Arab leaders had long opposed on grounds that it provoked sectarian strife.

Comments

[balzacq.livejournal.com]

Doesn't say anything about the *police*, though, now does it?

[winterbadger]

Yes, I noticed that. I don't know enough to guess whether that's an intentional loophole (the specificity of saying that *Defence Ministry* employees are not allowed to raid mosques suggests that it is, since the police are under the Interior Ministry) or whether popular opinion will accept that sort of distinction. But there certainly doesn't seem to be any suggestion of a quid pro quo under which imams or mosque councils or whoever controls access to the buildings will ensure that they're not used for storage of weapons. They have been in the past, so without that it doesn't seem as if this is much but window dressing.