Finally, investigations are being held into the existence of Shia-led death squads in Iraq. Apparently the U.S. military caught some policemen about to execute a Sunni, and when questioned about it, they admitted it as if nothing were wrong with it. The incident has prompted an official investigation, though that it has not happened yet is absolutely astounding.

The so-called “death squads” are formed by members of the different Shia militias, like Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army and the SCIRI-linked Badr Organization that was trained by Iran for about twenty years. These squads have targeted, and still target, Sunnis and kill them without any regard for due process. They are able to get away with it because they have infiltrated the Interior Ministry and police forces at many levels, and some believe that it would be impossible the the interior minister, who is a member of SCIRI, to not know of all this himself.

It is very important to investigate and root out these sectarians from the government forces, as their loyalties to their respective political parties are deeper than their loyalties to their countrymen. The issue has become perhaps one of the main sources of friction between the Sunnis and Shia, so much so that it is going to be one of the key issues discussed in talks to form the new government.

I personally find it very bizarre that nothing has happened until right now with regards to investigating the death squads. Reports have been coming out of the country for months about this. It is well-known. They found people being tortured in the Interior Ministry building by these people just a month ago. Shouldn’t that have been a good hint? Rooting them out of the security forces, and curtailing the militias, and key to winning further stability in Iraq.