Party Militias

Spencer Ackerman has an important post on the problem with party security organizations in Iraq:

"But the Nasiriya assault described here shows that SCIRI defines its security rather broadly, including the need to eliminate challengers to its prominence. Basically, gunmen answerable to the largest component of the dominant political slate in Iraq were prepared to assassinate the chief of police in Thiqar province because he had replaced one of their loyalists. They were able to call on some of the provincial police to aid in the hit. That prompted the police chief to turn to radical elements for protection, to the point where now the Sadrists serve as a backup force for the chief."

This is not how a democracy should function, and we can only hope these militias don't represent a force that ultimately undermines Iraq's political development.