Tribal fighters take part in a military training to prepare for fighting against Islamic State militants, at the Ain al-Assad military base in Anbar province November 15, 2014. Picture taken November 15, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer

By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States plans to buy arms for Sunni tribesmen in Iraq including AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds to help bolster the battle against Islamic State militants in Anbar province, according to a Pentagon document prepared for Congress.

The plan to spend $24.1 million represents a small fraction of the larger, $1.6 billion spending request to Congress focusing on training and arming Iraqi and Kurdish forces.

But the document underscored the importance the Pentagon places on the Sunni tribesmen to its overall strategy to diminish Islamic State, and cautioned Congress about the consequences of failing to assist them.

"Not arming tribal fighters will continue to leave anti-ISIL tribes reluctant to actively counter ISIL," the document said, using another acronym for the group which has seized control of large parts of Syrian and Iraq and is gaining territory in Anbar despite three months of U.S.-led air strikes.

A U.S. official said on Saturday that the document was posted this week. Click http://1.usa.gov/11nsTuN to read it.

It said all U.S. support was directed "with, by and through" Iraq's government, suggesting any weapons would be supplied through Baghdad, in line with existing policy.

It noted Iraqi security forces were not "not particularly welcome in Anbar and other majority Sunni areas," citing their poor combat performance and sectarian divisions.

Iraq's army has been burdened by a legacy of sectarianism in Anbar, whose dominant Sunni population resented former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite majority government and were incensed when he ordered troops to clear a protest camp in Ramadi in December 2013.

The ensuing Sunni tribal revolt prompted the entrance of Islamic State into Falluja and Ramadi, where U.S. troops had met fierce resistance from Sunni insurgents including al Qaeda during their occupation of Iraq after the 2003 invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein.

The United States, which has deployed a small number of military advisors to Anbar province, hopes the Sunni tribesmen can later form part of a more formal Iraqi National Guard.

The Pentagon document also detailed $1.24 billion to be spent on Iraqi forces and $354.8 million on Kurdish troops.

"While the trend on the battlefield has been promising in stemming ISIL gains, Iraq lacks the training expertise and equipment to field the forces needed to liberate territory," the document said.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Grant McCool)

Shopkeeper: ‘If they break my window, they’ll put me out of business’

Workers scrambled Saturday morning to barricade police headquarters and other government buildings, residents grabbed supplies at a corner store and some shop owners finished boarding up windows.

View gallery

.

Some businesses in Clayton, Mo. have boarded up ahead of the Ferguson grand jury decision. (Yahoo/Jason Sickle …

Nothing in the St. Louis area seems normal as the community anxiously awaits a grand jury’s findings in the case of a white police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen.

Brown's death promoted riots in August, and there is a fear among some locals that another round of violence could cost lives and livelihoods.

“I try not to think about it, but if they break my window, they’ll put me out of business,” Maria Mathias, owner of Busy Bee Alterations & Shoe Repair. “They've really got my heart pumping right now."

The grand jury was asked three months ago to decide if Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson should be charged with a crime in the 18-year-old's death. A spokesperson for Prosecutor Robert McCulloch said the panel met on Friday, leading many to believe that a decision was imminent. But late Saturday, it was reported that no announcement would come before Monday.

The area saw weeks of unrest in August as protesters and heavily armed police clashed. Stores in Ferguson were looted and property was destroyed. Missouri’s governor declared a state of emergency earlier this week in anticipation of more violence when the grand jury rules.

Mathias, a business owner in Clayton for 23 years, watched with angst Saturday morning as workers secured the police department across the street.

“They know the decision, that’s why they are doing that,” said Mathias, 62. “It scared me when I saw them putting the bars out there.”

A jewelry store, a restaurant and other businesses around her shop have boarded their storefronts. Mathias said someone wanted $2,000 to put plywood on her windows.

“I can’t afford that,” she said.

A “Justice for Mike Brown Map” identifies dozens of buildings, which could become targets for demonstrators, both those planning peaceful protests and those authorities fear could become violent. Downtown Clayton ranks high because it’s home to St. Louis County’s justice system.

View gallery

.

Seamstress Maria Mathias worries about her shop if protests in Clayton, Mo. turn violent. (Yahoo/Jason Sickles …

It’s usually the busiest day of the week for Mathias, but by late morning she had only two customers. Sales have been slow since the police shooting in August, she said.

Despite being located directly across from the police department, Mathias said local officials have not visited with her about protest preparations.

“If they are going to protect (government) buildings, then why don’t they protect me too?” she said. “I pay taxes. They came and talked to us when they have the art fair, but now they don’t say anything.”

Tom Wendel, who was taking his family to brunch Saturday morning, said he’s optimistic that the downtown lockdown will be much to do about nothing.

“I think this is unnecessary,” Wendel said. “I hope it’s unnecessary.”

(Editor's note: This story was updated after it initially published.)

Jason Sickles is a reporter for Yahoo News. Follow him on Twitter (@jasonsickles).

Wochit
Lavrov Accuses West of Seeking 'regime Change' in Russia

By Polina Devitt

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West on Saturday of trying to use sanctions imposed on Moscow in the Ukraine crisis to seek "regime change" in Russia.

His comments stepped up Moscow's war of words with the United States and the European Union in their worst diplomatic standoff since the Cold War ended.

"As for the concept behind to the use of coercive measures, the West is making clear it does not want to force Russia to change policy but wants to secure regime change," Tass news agency quoted Lavrov as telling a meeting of the advisory Foreign and Defense Policy Council in Moscow.

He said that when international sanctions had been used against other countries such as Iran and North Korea, they had been designed not to harm the national economy.

"Now public figures in Western countries say there is a need to impose sanctions that will destroy the economy and cause public protests," Lavrov said.

View gallery

In this Wednesday Nov. 5, 2014 photo a Russian Cossack stands on guard at the military base in Perev …

His comments followed remarks on Thursday in which President Vladimir Putin said Moscow must guard against a "color revolution" in Russia, referring to protests that toppled leaders in other former Soviet republics.

Western sanctions have limited access to foreign capital for some of Russia's largest companies and banks, hit the defense and energy industries, and imposed asset freezes and travel bans on some of Putin's allies.

The measures have aggravated an economic downturn, which has also been worsened by a fall in global oil prices and has helped cause a nearly 30 percent slide in the rouble against the dollar since the start of the year.

Putin's popularity has soared in Russia since the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March.

He says Western powers were behind the overthrow of a Moscow-backed president in Ukraine in February after months of street protests, but the West blames Moscow for the crisis.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in Kiev on Friday termed Russia's behavior in Ukraine as "unacceptable". He said Moscow must abide by a Sept. 5 ceasefire deal, which has failed to end a conflict that has killed more than 4,300 people since mid-April.

Biden urged Moscow to pull soldiers out of Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists are fighting government forces, though Moscow denies supporting the rebels with troops and weapons.

(Editing by Timothy Heritage and Jane Baird)