Security

What to Do with the 'Sons of Iraq'

The enlistment of Sunni neighborhood militias — the so-called "Sons of Iraq" groups — helped turn the tide against extremists in Iraq last year. But now that security is improving and the Iraqi Army is taking charge, what do we do with more than 100,000 armed, empowered, but poorly trained militiamen? (You can tell them […]

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The enlistment of Sunni neighborhood militias -- the so-called "Sons of Iraq" groups -- helped turn the tide against extremists in Iraq last year. But now that security is improving and the Iraqi Army is taking charge, what do we do with more than 100,000 armed, empowered, but poorly trained militiamen? (You can tell them by their distinctive reflective belts, pictured.)

It's a problem the U.S. and Baghdad have worried about for some time. And it's the subject of an excellent piece in the Christian Science Monitor. "Many officials worry that if the SOI units are dissolved without transitioning members into steady employment, Baghdad's security will pay the price," the piece contends:

U.S. commanders would like to transition 100 percent of SOI into the
Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) as soon as possible. But the final decision about incorporating SOI into the police or military will come from the
Iraqi government –- which is giving mixed signals on the plan. As of
May 31, only 17,000 (about 15 percent) of the SOI had joined the ISF.

Coalition officials in Iraq might learn from their counterparts in Afghanistan.
In that country, NATO employed poorly-trained tribal cops to hold the line against Taliban attackers, only to discover that the same cops, armed and confident but loyal to tribal chiefs, posed a threat to the ruling regime in Kabul. The cops were fired without fanfare ... and for months there was a security vacuum as the Afghan Army raced to fill the void.

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(Photo: Paul McLeary)