Do you want to know why “Iraqi Units Flee Post, Despite American’s Plea” as the New York Times reported on Wednesday?

There is no need for an expensive Pentagon study. And years of training by the U.S. aren’t going to change anything. Just watch the last scene of The Godfather Part II  which portrays the family dinner a day after the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor and during which Michael announces that he was volunteering to fight in World War II. But Sonny, angry that the “Japs” bombed on “pop’s birthday,” berates his brother for risking his life “for a buch of strangers” and calls him (and other enlistees) a “sap” (a dupe). Michael says he wants to fight for his country. “Country ain’t your blood,” responds Sonny.

Which is exactly how most members of the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities feel today. They’s fight for their family and their tribe or sect but not for an army of an amorphous “Iraqi nation.”