Mario Loyola emails:

Hi Jonah,
I wrote about this in a recent piece for The Weekly Standard:
The following morning we picked up processed ID cards and belts for several dozen more Iraqi Civilian Watch and went to a local school (not yet in session) to process the new “recruits.” As soon as we got there, the second of the major problems I mentioned–that of arming the ICW adequately–manifested in stark simplicity. Several of the new recruits showed up without the weapons they were supposed to bring along, and a local sheik, who had promised more men, was now asking the Marines to help him get weapons for them.
U.S. policy is to assist the emerging ICW in every way–but not with weapons. The effort to establish law and order in a country is not normally served by arming irregular forces, least of all a land that is already drowning in assault rifles; and in any case there is the question of Shiite sensitivities. Many of the Anbaris we now seek to enfranchise are former Sunni insurgents (and in some cases former al Qaeda) and some have surely committed atrocities against Shiites. They must not be armed without a thorough vetting. In any case, each household is permitted one AK-47, so in theory most recruits should have access to a weapon.
….. The usually affable Captain Hanson was severe in his reaction to the sheik’s entreaties and excuses: “There are certain things I can’t give you. I can’t you give you time and I can’t give you weapons. We’re running out of time. And it’s time for you to get weapons.” By the next day, the watchmen were armed–or so we were told.
Two more things to consider: (1) We are organizing and regularizing what amounts to a Sunni militia. If we could do with the Shiite militias what we are now doing with the Sunnis (who already have plenty of weapons) the war would essentially be over now. (2) Iraq’s Sunnis are going to be our allies for a long time. In the end, we are the only people in Iraq who proved willing and able to protect them — and I saw their affection and appreciation first hand.