Word: militiaization
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...also has a serious policy dispute with the U.S., and a sense of betrayal. They promised him, last summer when they launched the major security offensive to retake Baghdad, that the U.S. would take care of Sunni guerrilla movement in Baghdad before moving against Mahdi Army [the Shi'ite militia of Moqtada al-Sadr, whose stronghold is in Baghdad]. That way, Maliki could to go to the Shi'ite elders in Baghdad and say, you are safe, you no longer need militias and they are a source of discord, so they must be disbanded. But the Americans failed to dislodge...
...Green Zone to get my press credentials, but got stuck in a traffic jam caused by the U.S. snatch of Sheik Mazin al-Saedi - a top aide to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr detained on suspicion of involvement in sectarian killings by Shi'ite militia. Sitting in traffic in downtown Baghdad is far more nerve-wracking than rolling down even the most dangerous road in the area. You wonder if there are any car bombs amid the traffic around you as you eye the gridlock. You wonder if any of the people who've glanced...
Does Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have the political spine to deal with Iraq's No. 1 problem - the Shi'ite militias? There's a growing suspicion in Baghdad that he does not. Having promised, for the umpteenth time, to crack down on the sectarian death squads wreaking havoc on the Iraqi capital, the prime minister promptly turned around and castigated U.S. forces for doing precisely that. The Iraqi leader claimed that a predawn raid Wednesday on a militia stronghold by U.S. and Iraqi soldiers had been conducted without his approval, and said such attacks would not be repeated...
...military statement said the raid was directed at a "top illegal armed group commander directing widespread death squad activity throughout eastern Baghdad." At least 4 people were killed and 20 injured in the raid, which included air strikes from U.S. aircraft. It is unclear whether the targeted militia leader was captured. Although the U.S. said Iraqi special forces played the lead role in the raid, al-Maliki claimed the Iraqi government had not been consulted...
...beleaguered residents of Baghdad, this has become a familiar Green Zone farce. Beholden to the very militias he has vowed to crush, the increasingly hamstrung prime minister has forced U.S. troops guarding the city to don kid gloves when dealing with the Mahdi Army, the militia loyal to the radical Shi'ite leader Moqtada al-Sadr, which has been blamed for much of the sectarian violence that kills an average of 100 Iraqis a day. And there is palpable frustration among U.S. soldiers patrolling the streets of Baghdad that every time they strike against the Mahdi Army, they are publicly...