New Haven Advocate: News – Iraq Five Years Later
Iraq’s security plan of the past months has gotten results. It came on the tail of sectarian violence receding, largely due to Sunni and Shia neighborhoods becoming almost completely segregated. Militias had gained territory and set the makeup of the cities’ population.
This is when the security plan went into effect, which reinforced the segregation with walls and barbed wire. Neighborhoods were separated, with minimal ways in and out.
Shia militias are staying quiet, allowing Iraqi and American forces to concentrate on routing out al-Qaeda, which is to their benefit. Meanwhile, cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr’s militia, the Mahdi Army, though not often actively attacking troops, still numbers in the tens of thousands and retains control over parts of Baghdad and much of southern Iraq. Al-Sadr has clout in the Iraqi Parliament and is currently studying to achieve the high religious title of Ayatollah, which can be expected to increase his following.
A female government worker in her 40s I met on the street told me, “The Americans are paying and arming the militias to stay quiet for now. Al Sadr is not stupid. Jaish Al-Mahdi [the Mahdi Army] is now getting weapons and training. They grow strong every day, and they do not give [up] their territory. What do you think will happen in the future?”
The Strategy of staving off the disaster until it can be a huge disaster seems to be a popular one.
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