www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6276868/

Allawi extends cash-for-weapons program On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi announced plans to extend a cash-for-weapons program for Shiite fighters in Baghdad’s Sadr City to cities nationwide in an attempt to disarm the country.   The government launched the cash-for-guns program in Sadr City as part of a deal to end weeks of fighting in the Shiite district of Baghdad and has twice extended the deadline for fighters to hand in their weapons. On Monday, Allawi told the National Council, a government oversight body, that the program is going so well he wants to extend it to the rest of Iraq. “The government is determined to disarm cities and neighborhoods because our forces are now ready to fight terrorists and there’s no justification for people to keep weapons at home,” Allawi said.

What else did you expect?  Iraq has no equivalent of the Second Amendment in its Constitution.

It will never work ------------

the difference between them and us is that they really will only give them up from their cold dead hands.

Unlike Americans that just use the catch  phrase.

Arabs and their Islamist bretheren will give up junk for money every time (100 year old Enfields, rusty RPGs, non-working, cannibalized AKs, etc).  the good stuff is still under the mattresses.
And by the way, Iraq probably will fail as a free state, and so will Afghanistan.

The insurgents are no doubt using this program to get rid of a lot of junk and fund their activities.  It has been said time and again, a guerilla army cannot survive without the support of the people.  With it they cannot lose.  Someone is hiding, feeding suppying and enabling these assholes to strike almost 80 times a day in Iraq. No matter how much we restore the power, water and road system, they are still meaner and more determined than those in power.  When we leave, they will take over.  

We achieved our objective.  We deposed Saddam.  What we didn't bargain for was that there was much worse waiting in the wings.
If we're there to rack up a potential terrorist body count and keep them off our ass over here, fine.  That works for me.

Boy it's good to see you guys are so positive, those people need to disarm.
Yea we have the right to bear arms, and the don't, I don't think you can really compare ther two population so easy.

They aren't interested in dying for their freedom anyway, why do they need guns?

Our guns are supposed to protect us from the tyranny *we* threw off ourselves.  They have not.  They don't seem too interested in protecting themselves further, either.

That's been a big hang-up for me for a long time.  If they want freedom and democracy so bad, let them give their own sons and daughters and fathers and mothers to the cause.  I'd be happier about our "helping" them if that were the case.

Imagine the American Revolution where the Americans rely on the French and others to do the deed.  I can't.


Scott

The disarming they want to accomplish is removing RPGs and mortars from their neighborhoods.
I've lived in some places where I really didn't want my neighbors to have a BB gun due to their stupidity.
As for the countries failing:
Japan was full of committed suicidal soldiers and Germany was getting done with a godlike cult.
There was plenty of doom and gloom about them ever succeeding.
Try reading a little history of the world and less Democratic/Kerry mantras.

Quoted: They aren't interested in dying for their freedom anyway, why do they need guns? ... If they want freedom and democracy so bad, let them give their own sons and daughters and fathers and mothers to the cause.  I'd be happier about our "helping" them if that were the case. Scott

I understand what you are saying, but lets not allow liberals to use that as an excuse to abandon them. We also need to remember that most of those killed by "anti-coalition" terrorists are Iraqi's themselves, and that those "terrorists"  think they are fighting for freedom from democracy (I know, doesnt make sense, but their heads arent screwed on quite straight)

Fuzzybunny said: The disarming they want to accomplish is removing RPGs and mortars from their neighborhoods. I've lived in some places where I really didn't want my neighbors to have a BB gun due to their stupidity.

Yes, as far as I'm concerned, we should concentrate our efforts to purge the country of weapons and terrorists... then when Iraq has a freely elected government with checks and balances, and a constitution that can be modified by her people, but is safe from modification by the stroke of a despots pen.... Then, they can choose what circumstances an Iraqi may (or may not) have weapons and the types of weapons involved.

Surely nobody here thinks there should be no restrictions....  law abiding Iraqi's with a Barret .50BMG or even Full-auto AK's dont bother me much... but terrorists or vigilante militia with anti-aircraft missiles or sarin-gas morters, or weaponized anthrax are TOTALLY unacceptable.

Try reading a little history of the world and less Democratic/Kerry mantras.

I hope you're not talking about me.  My wife and I donated as much as we could to the RNC this year, personally registered several new Republicans this summer and will be down at the polls distributing Republican literature to help GW get elected.  I study the candidates for the primaries and vote for the best Republican, then turn around and vote Republican every time on election day.  

If we are fighting to liberate the people of Iraq, we need to be fighting for a constitution that is modeled after ours, not one that the UN would like to have us live under.  Ours worked fine... Xerox off a copy of it and let them use it!

If it were rough around here like it is in Iraq, would you want them disarming us?

ETA: The original story said there’s no justification for people to keep weapons at home, not there’s no justification for people to keep heavy artillery at home

Quoted: The disarming they want to accomplish is removing RPGs and mortars from their neighborhoods. I've lived in some places where I really didn't want my neighbors to have a BB gun due to their stupidity. As for the countries failing: Japan was full of committed suicidal soldiers and Germany was getting done with a godlike cult. There was plenty of doom and gloom about them ever succeeding. Try reading a little history of the world and less Democratic/Kerry mantras.

That's what I've been doing, reading history.
A lot of folks in the Middle East define freedom a litle differently from us.  For many of them, freedom means the freedom to set up an Islamist Republic which would be founded upon the teachings of the Koran and their God.  The people who fought the Russians in Afghanistan and who have the real credibility with their tribes and their people are hard core Islamists.  Karzai will survive only as long as he gets enough money from the West to spread around.  He's a walking deadman with only a temporary stay of execution.  The same situation is on deck in Iraq.  
This has nothing to do with John Kerry.  Kerry's policies would make things very, very much worse!  His policies could easily lead to the complete destabilization of Pakistan and a nuclear incident.  And God only knows what else.

The US military  said Iraqis could keep one AK for self defense purposes at the end of the major fighting.

Who knew they would turn those guns on our troops later?  Imagine that!

From what I've heard, US troops still haven't collected many of the heavy weapons they know are still out there.


the weapon cash-in program will only get guns from those people who don't want any trouble from anybody;  While the trouble makers are sure to have a nice stockpile of weapons and ammo to draw from whenever they are ready.