That Sunni neighborhoods in Iraq are forming communal guard groupings against Shia militias and paramilitary forces adds to the growing indicators and trends of Iraqi society heading toward a descent into civil war.

As discussed in the WAR Report, an upsurge in targeted sectarian killings seems to have set in motion the early stages of ethnic-religious civil war in Iraq. The emergence of Sunni communal defense groups and militias and, as the New York Times article notes, Sunni residents tipping off Sunni insurgents, points to entrenched distrust and open confrontation with the Shia-dominated government and security forces. Further, it may signal the early stages of a retreat by Sunnis, disillusioned with the prospects of achieving interests through the national political processes, to a more square support of the Sunni insurgency as a means of communal defense and the pursuit of communal interests for Sunnis. Such a move would invigorate the insurgency, entrench it as a classic anti-government resistance, and hasten a trend toward the fracturing of the country into ethno-religious provinces and cities.