Word: militiaization
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...Iraqi military's offensive in Basra was supposed to demonstrate the power of the central government in Baghdad. Instead it has proven the continuing relevance of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, stood its ground in several days of heavy fighting with Iraqi soldiers backed up by American and British air power. But perhaps more important than the manner in which the militia fought is the manner in which it stopped fighting. On Sunday Sadr issued a call for members of the Mahdi Army to stop appearing in the streets with their weapons...
...after fighting between the Iraqi government and Shi'ite militias escalated alarmingly, anti-American militia chieftain Moqtada al-Sadr extended an olive branch. On Sunday Sadr told members of his militia to stop appearing in the streets with weapons and to halt their attacks on government institutions...
...appeared on Monday that militants had heeded Sadr's call in Basra. Reuters reported that armed fighters were no longer in the streets and that the city was calm. In Baghdad the situation was less clear. The government lifted a city-wide curfew in all but a few militia strongholds, signaling that fears of truly disastrous violence had begun to subside. But at least some militants either had not yet received or were choosing to ignore Sadr's directive. Monday morning rockets or mortars once again slammed into the U.S. and Iraqi headquarters in central Baghdad. In what has become...
...along has been that it is fighting criminals, not members of the Mahdi Army. So the importance the government has attached to Sadr's announcement undercuts its assertion that it is not engaged in combat with the radical cleric's forces. More importantly, it was not clear that the militia would comply with the government's initial demand that its members surrender their weapons. Sadr's statement simply asked his followers not to appear with their weapons in public, and said that those who did would not be considered Mahdi Army members...
...Violence continued to escalate in Baghdad as well, with the U.S. using air power against Mahdi Army positions in the militia stronghold of Sadr City...