Cross your fingers about the Iraqi militias

IN THE NEWS
Max Weber said that the defining characteristic of the state is its monopoly over the legitimate use of force. Whenever you have private armies, such as in the late Roman republic or El Salvador in the 1980s, you have a weak state.

Therefore, today's news that nine groups in Iraq are disbanding their private militias--amounting to approximately 100,000 people in arms--is definitely good news. Some of these militia members will join the army; others will join local police and border guard units.

However, before anyone begins a victory parade, let's be careful to note the following:

• No one has disbanded yet.


• We've heard similar announcements before, but no disbanding actually occurred.


• Iraqi military and police units still haven't been fully organized, training hasn't occurred, and they've often withered under fire--or in the case of police units in Fallujah, actually joined the resistance against us.


• The factions should be expected to have a built-in escape hatch to reconstitute the militias, if needed--or better yet, still have them in de facto existence, even if they've been abolished in some de jure fashion.

Still, if the plan gains real momentum, it is a forward step.

Comments

[ff14rmt]

rmtなどがそうだ。rmt リネージュ2これらMMORPGといわれるオンラインゲームは、リネージュ2 rmt1つのサーバーに数千人のプレイヤーが同時にログインしゲームを行なっている。ここでいうサーバーとは、物理的なサーバーではない。MMORPGでは、rmt とはサーバーやワールドと呼ばれる単位で複数の同じ世界が存在する。アトランティカ RMT3万人が同時に1つのサーバへアクセスすると処理が重くなってしまうrmt aion