Iraq and the Sectarian Militias: Only If

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One can only hope that it is true that the Iraqi government is taking on the militias.
It is not possible to have the rule of law, or even the appearance of it, with private armies running amok. It is even harder to have the dignity of a state when the militias are sectarian and the minions of foreign regimes.

Looking back one wonders how things in Iraq would have turned out if, in the aftermath of the brilliant military conquest, the militias were disbanded and the Iraqi army reconstituted and strengthened.
Would there have been the nihlist alQaeda, with its hate and thirst for blood ideology, in Iraq offering itself as a protector of the Sunnis? Would it have had any appeal of significance?

Much of the bloodshed and chaos would have been avoided. Only if.

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