I think people are rapidly losing confidence in the political class, and I don't blame them.
Everybody seems to be imprisoned in their own sectarian or political affiliations. They don't seem to be able to rise above these things.
Until and unless we could disband these militias, this country won't be able to function properly.
This contest between the secular and religious visions of government is really the main choice to be made. It won't be decided in one election, but it is a basic choice between an open and progressive Iraq and one that is backward and continues to fall behind.
I think the Shiites want a theocracy.
It won't be a question of how well-trained or well-equipped the army is but one of the authority it serves.
If the security forces continue to be dominated as they are now by political groups or sects, then the people won't trust in them - and the result will be civil war or fragmentation of the country.
An apology for the actions of some troops who, of course, are not representative of the majority of the armed forces here, I think that would have been useful and it would have helped to some extent.
