Seeking safety, Iraqis turn to militias

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's "government has shown it's powerless. The residents of Sadr City will protect themselves. Everyone here is behind us. We will only disarm when the violence is over," he says.

Sadr and Mahdi Army members brush off allegations from US officials and Sunni Arab politicians that its members run some of the death squads that target Sunni Arabs in revenge attacks, like the organized murders of more than 30 in Baghdad's western Jihad neighborhood earlier this month.

There, gangs of gunmen roamed the streets for two hours, pulling Sunnis from their cars and homes.

Even on days without such high-profile killings, bodies of bound Sunni Arab victims, usually shot in the head but sometimes garroted with wire, are frequently found in empty lots along Sadr City's northern and eastern edges.

Thousands of Shiites have also been killed in sectarian attacks. In addition to Sunday's suicide bombings, seven Shiite construction workers were killed near the US Military's Camp Victory on Saturday.

Nevertheless, one US general says that he considers Sadr's militia, with its thousands of poorly trained irregulars and its growing reputation for sectarian killings, to be one of the country's gravest security threats.

"They're organized and they're spreading,'' he says.

After Prime Minister Malikitook his oath of office, he promised to restore security and outlined a detailed plan to suppress militias on both sides. US officials said they believed Maliki had the authority and respect to get the job done as a leader of the powerful Shiite Dawa Party, according to one senior US official.

But Mr. Sadr is a powerful member of the ruling coalition in his own right. His movement holds 30 seats in parliament, and his loyalists control four ministries. While once considered disorganized rabble rousers, the Mahdi Army has evolved into a social force to be reckoned with.

"Today, the Sadrists play a central part in government and parliament,'' the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, wrote in a report earlier this month. "The Sadrist movement has deep roots, and its demands reflect many justified grievances."

Sadr's rise to power has some small parallels to the strength of the Shiite group Hizbullah in Lebanon. There, Hizbullah is seen by its supporters, mainly poor Shiites, as a protector and a provider of social services that a weak central government can't offer them.

As in Lebanon, where the government was hesitant to confront Hizbullah for fear of sparking civil war and had doubts about their own army's cohesion in such a battle. Maliki appears uncertain of his military's willingness to target Sadr's followers. Many Mahdi Army members also double as Iraqi soldiers and police. There could also be political fallout for Maliki if he appears to be an American puppet. .

Sadr has made the comparison himself with Hizbullah. Speaking on Friday, he vowed to support to the group.

"As the idol of America fell, so will the idol of Israel,'' he said.

Page: 1 | 2