Self Defense

It's come to this.

By nightfall, the imams of mosques in three Sunni neighborhood, Ghazaliya, Ameriya, and Adhamiya, made a joint announcement to their followers.

"We would like to ask you to take care and be careful for the next hours of tonight," they said. "Open fire towards any gunman who enters the city, such as the Mahdi Army, except the Americans because they will come to protect the people from the death squads and guard the neighborhood."

The imams gave one more piece of advice to their followers: Open fire on any members of the mostly Shiite police forces. What happened in Hurriyah, the imams alleged, was done with their help.