the more i read on this the more frustrated i become

A member of the Mahdi Militia, a group overseen by cleric Muqtada al Sadr, stands guard in 2004. Khampha Bouaphanh, Fort Worth Star-Telegramis

it me? i just don't get what gives US the right to tell these people what to do or who should run their land or how and when and why they should vote. what gives US the right to storm into their homes? WE'RE upset at this and that happening in iraq? DAMN, WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO MAKE IRAQ THEIR HOME? are WE really protecting them or effing up their lives so badly it will take decades and generations to recover? (no fan of saddams here, but there WAS a better way to do this)

U.S. knew Shiite militias were a threat but took no action largely because they were focused on Sunni insurgency
By Tom Lasseter
Knight Ridder Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. officials were warned for more than two years that Shiite Muslim militias were infiltrating Iraq's security forces and taking control of neighborhoods, but they failed to take action to counteract it, Iraqi and American officials said.
Now American officials call the militias the primary security concern in Iraq, blaming them for more civilian deaths than the Sunni Muslim-based insurgency and demanding that the Iraqi government move quickly to stem their influence.
U.S. officials concede that they didn't act, in part because they were focused on fighting the Sunni-dominated insurgency and on recruiting and training Iraqi security forces. ............

A Shi'ite militiaman patrols the streets of Sadr City in August 2004. David P. Gilkey, Detroit Free Press