Word: militiaization
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...crisis. Dramatic action was indicated. The President was anxious to go on the offensive after the Democratic election victories and before the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group report. He was going to press al-Maliki to do something unpleasant-perhaps move against the most powerful Shi'ite militia, the Mahdi Army led by Muqtada al-Sadr. Al-Maliki seemed to be resisting Bush's pressure. He snubbed the President, refusing to meet him in the evening...
...will lay down their guns as soon as the U.S. fixes a date for withdrawal. Since any reasonable timetable for withdrawal would still preserve some kind of U.S. troop presence for the foreseeable future, Baker and Bush would have you believe that tens of thousands of insurgents, terrorists and militia members are prepared to contain their furies for months, if not years - after which time they will presumably emerge tanned, rested and more bloodthirsty than ever. It's a preposterous notion, since it also presumes that U.S. forces would decide to observe some kind of cease-fire as well. Baker...
...Maliki's aides, in turn, leaked to reporters that the Iraqi Prime Minister told President Bush that dealing with the Shi'ite militias would not be a "big problem." In reality, al-Maliki has been totally powerless against the militias, especially since they are loyal to his own political allies. So it was hard to believe Bush was being sincere when he declared he was "reassured by the Prime Minister's commitment to a ... a society in which people are held into account who break the law - whether these people will be criminals al-Qaeda, militia, whoever...
...growing fame on the Shi'ite street--has caused even al-Sadr to distance himself from his former protégé. Last month al-Sadr put Abu Deraa on a list of people no longer part of the Mahdi Army. U.S. officials began to describe Abu Deraa as a "rogue militia leader" and a "free agent" no longer in al-Sadr's control. But some of al-Sadr's associates continue to praise Abu Deraa. Falah Shansal, a member of parliament from the al-Sadr bloc, told TIME last week that Abu Deraa was still "a fighter in the Mahdi Army...
...long as Abu Deraa enjoys al-Sadr's tacit protection, he won't be easy to run down. U.S. forces believed they had him surrounded in Sadr City last month, but the militia leader narrowly escaped. A U.S. air strike is believed to have killed several of his closest fighters and severed an arm of one of his sons. "This is an honor for him, me and the family," Abu Deraa told TIME. The victims of Abu Deraa's brutality can only hope there are more such honors in store...