NYT: For Hopeless Generation, (Sadr's) Militia Fills a Void

INSURGENTS
For a Hopeless Generation, a Rebel Militia Fills a Void
By SABRINA TAVERNISE

Published: August 14, 2004


....Along with the fighting that has raged this week in Najaf and several other cities in southern Iraq, there is a debate about the dedication and effectiveness of the fighters who make up the Mahdi Army. The story of Muhammad Hussein (killed at 19, in June) casts light on that question, as well as on the new threat that he and other young, disaffected men like him pose to the American presence and the interim government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

They are a lost generation, young people who grew up during Iraq's decline into war and economic sanctions over the past 20 years. But they are far from a homogeneous group. Their reasons for fighting often have more to do with their poverty and a desire to belong than with any strongly held beliefs about religion or nationalism.

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In contrast to the Sunni fighters of Falluja, who are bound by a fierce patriotism and Arab nationalism, the Mahdi militia members seem to fight more out of personal loyalty to Mr. Sadr, whom they see as the only person who speaks for them....Residents of other Baghdad neighborhoods say that easy-to-get jobs would deflate much of the fervor that has built up around Mr. Sadr. The cleric himself seemed to acknowledge as much when he told mediators in private talks last week that he was ready for his army to be used as a type of "social organization" for public works projects, and not for fighting....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/14/international/middleeast/14family.html