Word: militiaization
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Senior U.S. officials in Baghdad don't seem too worried that the six-month deadline Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr set for his militia's unilateral cease-fire is about to lapse. "There has been some communication back and forth that appears to indicate that it will continue," said Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. U.S. officials say the cease-fire was a major factor in lowering violence across Iraq, where an ongoing surge of U.S. forces is now focused primarily on fighting Sunni extremists. "I would say it probably caused us about...
...were exposed. That's when Maliki no longer felt the need to protect his biggest constituent in Parliament and gave U.S. forces the green light to enter Sadr City, the cleric's popular stronghold in north Baghdad. Ever since, Iraqi and U.S. units have been arresting commanders of the militia who have not gone underground...
Then, in 2004, he launched two uprisings against the U.S. occupation. He then outmaneuvered his Shi'ite rivals in the political process and became the kingmaker who installed Maliki as Prime Minister. His militia was instrumental in carrying out thousands of reprisal killings after the February 2006 bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra, bringing Iraq to the verge of all-out civil...
...author of The Shi'a Revival, of Satterfield's comments, "Moqtada al-Sadr still commands the largest social and political movement in southern Iraq." Nasr and others believe the Mahdi Army's leader is biding his time out to develop stronger religious credentials and strengthen his control over a militia. Sadr's game plan, it appears, extends far beyond the next year or two. "The game in Iraq is not over," says Nasr. "He has been beefing up his strength...
...fact, the cease-fire has allowed Sadr to purge his militia forces, some of which had been hijacked by criminal gangs running lucrative kidnap-for-ransom schemes. The indiscriminate thuggery had damaged Sadr's reputation among average Iraqis. So had the perception that Sadr was an Iranian stooge. Some of elements of the Madhi Army had morphed into groups that answered directly to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and were operating beyond Sadr?s control. He has stood by as those elements have been arrested by U.S. forces...