Oh Yes! We Have No Militias...

...We Have No Militias Today!

By Cernig

It's really easy to agree to a 15 point statement calling for all militias to disband when your own militia has been redefined as not a militia. That's the subtext to the announcement of just such a statement by the Iraqi "political council of national security, which comprises the president, the prime minister and the heads of political blocs in parliament" yesterday.

A key demand in the statement was for all parties and political blocs to dissolve their militias immediately and hand in their weapons. The statement did not mention any militias by name, but Sadr appeared to be the target.

"They should shift to civilian activities as a precondition for taking part in the political process and the next elections," said the statement, read out at the news conference which was chaired by President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.

The political council said it would stand firmly with the Shi'ite-led government in any confrontation with militias.

Sadr's movement holds 30 seats in the 275-member parliament. Talabani said all members of the council had agreed to the 15-point statement except for the Sadrists, who had "reservations" about the demands on militias.

That's understandable, really. The Badr Brigade and other pro-Maliki militias have been largely subsumed into mainly-Shiite units of the Iraqi army and police. The Kurds successfully managed to have their peshmerga redefined as their own officially-sanctioned security force some time past. And recently the Sunnis have seen their own miltias redefined as Sons of Iraq and paid a salary by the US military. The only militia of note which is still officially a militia is Sadr's Mahdi Army.

But could this newfound political accord "help bridge Iraq's political rifts" as the AP and conservative pundits are suggesting? I find it unlikely. Most of the groups signing on to this accord are only happy about it because it will weaken a rival wiothout touching their own armed support. But underneath this facade, the rivalries still exist. In particular, the Kurdish peshmerga and SIIC's Badr Brigade militia are entrenched into the security forces - and neither group is especially interested in Iraqi unity. Although that's become a taboo subject for US military spokespeople and conservative "analysts", it wasn't always the case. General Casey was upfront about it back in 2005.

"Everybody says you have a Badr guy in the MOI. Well ... he was elected," said the senior U.S. military official in Baghdad. "And they say he's appointed a bunch of Badr guys. We have a Republican administration in America, and guess what? They've appointed a lot of Republicans. You elected SCIRI, and SCIRI is Badr."

The American officer said it would be up to the Iraqi government to deal with the Badr organization and other militias.

Sunni leaders say the Shiite-controlled government will never police Shiite militias.

There also have been allegations that the militia that's loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who also has Iranian support, is responsible for some of the killings. Many of the details of the incidents, however, point more to Badr. For instance, the killers often are reported as traveling in white Toyota Land Cruisers and carrying Glock pistols. Both are common at the Badr headquarters in Baghdad, but not with al-Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters, most of whom are poor and travel in beat-up vans and cars.

Asked who was behind the rounding up and killing of Sunnis, Casey said, "I don't know that it's the quote Badr corps that's doing it or the ... Mahdi (Army) that's doing it, but I have no doubt that people who are associated with those groups are involved."

Although militias are illegal under Iraqi law, Badr has flourished as U.S. forces have declined to crack down.

"It's not infiltration. They're upfront about it (their militia affiliation) and day to day things are OK, but then there's a crisis," Casey said. "What you see happening is that people are ... signing up (for the security forces) but their loyalties lie more to a militia leader than a chief of police."

That situation hasn't changed a bit in the last two and a half years. The various Iraqi factions may be able to paper over the cracks while they know that the target of the day is Sadr, not themselves - but that cannot last forever. As Command Sergeant Major Hassan Kadhum from the Badr-controlled 1st Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Division, based in Baghdad and likely (along with the division's Kurdish commando battalion) to be the main instrument of any crackdown, told McLatchy in 2005:

"Your country had to have a civil war,"..."It will be the same here. Everything in this world has its price. In Iraq the price for peace will be blood."