I say give em more weapons, all sides and the issue will eventually take care of itself
This battle has been raging for centuries, the only reason Saddam Hussein was the strong man is because the west backed him in the early 80's to further their own causes, then they couldn't control him and the rest is history and nothing will change going forward either. Same can be said for Assad/Syria, Mugabe/Zimbabwe, Gaddafi/Libya...... the list goes on.
Whom ever wrote that piece in the 2nd post has a very narrow dim-witted view of history.
The problem with the Iragi army in the different religious factions within the army and all the associated problems, I would suggest that many that were in the army have dropped their uniforms and now fight for the other side.
The single biggest mistake made when the US invaded Iraq the last time was to dis-establish the army and it's command structure.