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http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1219-11.htmIraq on Brink of Becoming Failed State: Report
by Ross Colvin
Radical action is needed to save a "hollowed-out and fatally weakened" Iraqi state and ease violence that a new Pentagon report says is at an all-time high, a prominent think-tank warned on Tuesday.
The report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said an international effort was needed to prevent Iraq collapsing into a "failed and fragmented state" whose Shi'ite- Sunni Arab conflict could draw in its neighbors in a proxy war.
"Hollowed-out and fatally weakened, the Iraqi state today is prey to armed militias, sectarian forces and a political class that, by putting short-term personal benefit ahead of long term national interests, is complicit in Iraq's tragic destruction."
In a report on Monday, the Pentagon said the Medic Army militia of radical Shiite cleric Montana al-Sadri had replaced al Qaeda as the "most dangerous accelerant of potentially self- sustaining sectarian violence in Iraq".
While the statement came as little surprise to many Iraqis, especially minority Sunnis, it was the bluntest statement yet by the Pentagon on the militia. U.S. commanders in Iraq have previously been reluctant to blame the Medic Army by name.
The U.S. and Iraqi military have also avoided large-scale strikes on his Sadri City stronghold, although they have staged raids to seize suspected Medic Army death squad leaders.
Shiite Prime Minister Nora al-Malice, who owes his position to Sad's support, has vowed to dismantle the militias but has done little so far to rein them in. The Pentagon report said the Medic Army exerted "significant influence" over the government.
"It is likely that Shiite militants were responsible for more civilian casualties than those associated with terrorist organizations. Shi'ite militants were the most significant threat to Coalition presence in Baghdad and southern Iraq," the Pentagon report said.
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