Private militias in Iraq - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Private militias in Iraq include those known from modern history such as the Mahdi Army

Mahdi Army

The Mahdi Army, also known as the Mahdi Militia or Jaish al-Mahdi , was an Iraqi paramilitary force created by the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in June 2003....

, Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...

and Badr Organization

Badr Organization

The Badr Organization previously known as the Badr Brigades or Badr Corps is an Iraqi political party headed by Hadi al-Amiri...

as well as some that have emerged in the post-Saddam period such as the Facilities Protection Service

Facilities Protection Service

The Facilities Protection Service is an Iraqi paramilitary force tasked with the fixed site protection of Iraqi Government buildings, facilities, and personnel. The FPS includes Oil, Electricity Police and Port Security. It works for all Iraqi government ministries and governmental agencies, but...

. The term "militias" refers to armed groups that fight on behalf of or as part of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government, rather than Sunni groups that fight against the government and are generally referred to as "insurgents."

Official statements

Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad

Zalmay Khalilzad

Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad is a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and president of Khalilzad Associates, an international business consulting firm based in Washington, DC. He was the United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush...

states that "the existence of private militias" has loomed as "a persistent problem."

Brett McGurk, Director for Iraq, from the National Security Council

United States National Security Council

The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...

has stated, "The Iraqi constitution makes clear that militias are illegal http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/ask/20060410.html and the new government platform pledges to demobilize militias as one of its principal goals....[The] private militias...purport to enforce religious law through illegal courts. "

U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy

Ted Kennedy

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...

has said, "Sectarian violence between Shiites and Sunnis is being fueled by the private militias, is now the biggest threat to stability." Moreover, U.S. Senator John Warner

John Warner

John William Warner, KBE is an American Republican politician who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974 and as a five-term United States Senator from Virginia from January 2, 1979, to January 3, 2009...

has urged the White House to prod Nouri al-Maliki to empower the Iraqi army to subdue the militias and stated, "It is their job, not the U.S. coalition forces' to subdue and get rid of these private militias".

No martial law

One dilemma has been the imposition of martial law

Martial law

Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...

and suspension of civil liberties to bring order and then restore democratic rule. The idea was pondered yet never implemented notwithstanding the fact that many of today's democracies have used martial law to bring about an end to anarchy

Anarchy

Anarchy , has more than one colloquial definition. In the United States, the term "anarchy" typically is meant to refer to a society which lacks publicly recognized government or violently enforced political authority...

or those who wish to derail the government.

On 29 September 2006, Iraqi official imposed a curfew for two days in Baghdad. As soon as the curfew ended "Sunday morning, new violence killed at least 22 people in Baghdad and elsewhere.". Thereafter, martial law was temporarily extended again. Later, the curfew was ended.

Sustenance

According to a professor of Middle East politics^[who?],"They get some salary, they get a rifle, they get a uniform, they get the idea of belonging, protection from a group." However, he also notes that "People in [Mahdi Army] only get sporadic incomes. It's also very dangerous. You might be fighting another militia, such as the Badr organization, or worse the American army or the Iraqi army." It is stated that Iran is backing the militias.

Iraqi government

Nouri al-Maliki

Nouri Kamil Mohammed Hasan al-Maliki , also known as Jawad al-Maliki or Abu Esraa, is the Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Al-Maliki and his government succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government. He is currently in his second term as Prime Minister...

asked political parties

Political Parties

Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...

to dismantle their militias on 5 October 2006. He also stressed that militias are "part of the government", that there is a "political solution", and finally that they should "dissolve themselves" because "force would not work." He blamed the sectarian violence

Sectarian violence in Iraq

Following the U.S.-launched 2003 invasion of Iraq, the situation deteriorated, and by 2007, the conflict between Iraqi Sunni and Shi'a factions was described by the National Intelligence Estimate as having elements of a civil war. In a January 10, 2007 address to the American people, President...

on "al Qaeda in Iraq". He has also condemned "Saddam Hussein loyalists". Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Olin Graham is the senior U.S. Senator from South Carolina and a member of the Republican Party. Previously he served as the U.S. Representative for .-Early life, education and career:...

has said, "You are not going to have a political solution [in Iraq] with this much violence." This has led to growing concerns about al-Maliki's unwillingness to eliminate Shia militias. The Mahdi Army

Mahdi Army

The Mahdi Army, also known as the Mahdi Militia or Jaish al-Mahdi , was an Iraqi paramilitary force created by the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in June 2003....

, a group linked to Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, is held responsible for "execution-style killings" of 11 Iraqi troops in August 2006. U.S. officials posit that the militias are a more serious threat to Iraq's stability than the Sunni insurgency. Additionally, U.S.-led coalition troops have been "told hands off Sadr City

Sadr City

Sadr City is a suburb district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It was built in 1959 by Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim and later unofficially renamed Sadr City after deceased Shia leader Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr....

because Maliki is dependent upon Sadr, the Mahdi Army." However, in late January, Maliki reversed his decision http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16732376/.

SCIRI

Sciri

Sciri may refer to:*Scirii, people*SCIRI, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq...

refused to acknowledge own militia, the Badr Organization