Tuesday, April 20, 2004

"The conflict may have abated, but its causes have not. Ten weeks before the planned handover of power to Iraqis on June 30th, Mr Bremer has yet to spell out what kind of government he will install. He has recently tended to ignore the Governing Council, for example when appointing a new interior minister. Sensing a political vacuum, various factions, including those led by members of the Council, are building up their own militias—sometimes in the guise of private security firms—and cementing their grip on the parts of the country they seized after the invasion last year. Sufi brotherhoods, who command the loyalty of millions of Sunnis, are creating a military wing. The only Iraqi brigade to fight on America's side this month was one composed of Kurdish peshmergas and the Free Iraq Forces of Ahmed Chalabi, a member of the Governing Council." From the Economist magazine (the best magazine there is), April 15th, 2004.