Since Saddam Hussein’s fall, few problems have destabilized Iraq more than militias. Allied with political parties, these forces have become incubators of sectarian violence. With President George W. Bush’s deployment of additional troops to pacify and secure Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki promises to take action. As reprisal attacks continue unabated, how can U.S. and Iraqi troops drain Baghdad and outlying towns of local militias? Should coalition forces confront them militarily, or can militias be integrated into the Iraqi Security Forces?
These and other questions will be discussed at an AEI panel discussion with Michael Eisenstadt, director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy’s Military and Security Studies Program; Ali Latif, a fellow at the Baghdad Institute for Public Policy Research; Larry Crandall, a State Department contractor with the U.S. Embassy in Iraq; and Larry Sampler, a research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analyses. AEI’s Michael Rubin will moderate.
