When gunmen in military uniforms stormed the the Sunni village of Albusaifi, and shot 24 people, you can be pretty sure that they were, in fact, soldiers.

One of the recurring themes during the ethnic cleansing of Sunnis from many parts of Baghdad was that the attackers were, “Dressed as security forces.”

This was not because these uniforms are floating around the street for anyone to pick up. It was because they were soldiers and police, and they were acting with the tacit approval of the Iraqi government.

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, knew what was going on, and approved of what was going on, which is why the ethnic cleansing went into high gear in 2006, following his ascension to the PM’s office.

Maliki has been implacably hostile to incorporating the Sunni “Sons of Iraq,” Sunni militiaman recruited to fight against Al Qaeda, into the state security apparatus, as promised, and has directed a program of harassment and arrest against them.

This is just the next step in this process.