Nine political parties agree to disband militias;

[DoBotherMe]

radical cleric's not among them

JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
Monday, June 7, 2004


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(06-07) 06:56 PDT BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) --

Nine major political parties agreed Monday to disband their militias, the interim prime minister said, although radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's fighters did not join the agreement.

In the southern city of Kufa, explosions rocked the compound surrounding the central mosque after ammunition used by fighters loyal to al-Sadr apparently caught fire, witnesses and Shiite militia members said. At least one person was killed and eight others were wounded.

Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said about 100,000 armed individuals will enter civilian life or take jobs in the state police force or security services. The militias have been credited with an active role in the U.S.-led ouster of Saddam Hussein.

"By doing this, we reward their heroism and sacrifices, while making Iraq stronger and eliminating armed forces outside of government control," Allawi said in a statement....

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/a/2004/06/07/international0802EDT0477.DTL

[Sagan]

1. This is great news!

I'm sure it will work every bit as well as it did in Afghanistan.

[Aidoneus]

2. Not really, Re: "great news!"

This just means that the quisling "Iraqi Army" protecting the maintained occupation (despite a small name change) will be stacked with politically/sectarianly (a real word?) devoted cadres, whose goal it will be to beat the will of the puppets they get their checks from into being. Or more accurately, the will of the puppets' foreign bosses.