Statebuilding proceeds in Iraq
The Washington Post reports on an imminent deal to disarm the two big militias remaining in Iraq. The key parts: Leaders of Iraq’s two largest militias have provisionally agreed to dissolve their forces, according to senior U.S. and Iraqi officials. The move is a major boost to a U.S. campaign to prevent civil war by ...
The Washington Post reports on an imminent deal to disarm the two big militias remaining in Iraq. The key parts:
The Washington Post reports on an imminent deal to disarm the two big militias remaining in Iraq. The key parts:
Leaders of Iraq’s two largest militias have provisionally agreed to dissolve their forces, according to senior U.S. and Iraqi officials. The move is a major boost to a U.S. campaign to prevent civil war by eliminating armed groups before sovereignty is handed over to an interim Iraqi government on June 30, the officials said. Members of the two forces — the Shiite Muslim Badr Organization and the Kurdish pesh merga — will be offered a chance to work in Iraq’s new security services or claim substantial retirement benefits as incentives to disarm and disband. Members of smaller militias will also be allowed to apply for positions with the new security services, but those that choose not to disband will be confronted and disarmed, by force if necessary, senior U.S. officials said. The occupation authority is still negotiating with Kurdish and Shiite leaders, who want more extensive guarantees than they have been offered. But U.S., Kurdish and Shiite officials said they had secured an agreement in principle and likely will announce a formal deal within the next few weeks. “We believe that all militia members should be part of one national army and police force,” said Hamid Bayati, a top official of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the Shiite political party that controls the Badr Organization, which is estimated to have at least 10,000 members. Jalal Talabani, one of Iraq’s two top Kurdish leaders, said in an interview that Kurdish officials have “an agreement with the coalition to find an honorable solution for the pesh merga.”
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
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