Back Once Again It’s The Badr B Boys
The longer that the interzone-formerly-imagined-as-Iraq exists in a state of postwar chaos and rapine, the more likely it is that simple Darwinism will throw up a generation of strong men who will “restore order”, albeit by dividing the territory into a number of mutually hostile armed zones. It happened in Lebanon, it happened in Afghanistan, and I see no reason why it could not happen in Iraq. In a worst-case scenario for the US, prolonged resistance could create a Vo Nguyen Giap or an Adams, where warlordism and satrapy is transformed into an astonishingly effective, asymmetrical resistance to Great Power dominance. I note this article mentions that the Badr B Boys, amongst others, are raising militia and preparing for a protracted power struggle.
Iraqi security experts and other sources in the capital say that, under the nose of the American forces, Iraq’s nascent political groups are forming armed militias and storing weapons as they prepare for a potential civil war for control of the country. In fact, The New Republic has learned, several Iraqis say even Hezbollah has formed a branch in Baghdad … Since the fall of Saddam, more than 30 different political parties have established themselves in Baghdad, ranging from the Kurdish People’s Front to the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), a theocratic group under the authority of newly returned Shia leader Mohammed Bakr Al Hakim. This should be a healthy sign. Except that, according to security sources, many of these parties have formed organized armed militias ranging in size from 500 men for Hizb Al Dawa, a leading theocratic Shia group, to more than 2,000 fighters for SCIRI, whose armed wing is called the Badr Brigade … The militias have already begun to roam unchecked throughout Baghdad–except within a security perimeter surrounding the area where the American troops and most foreign journalists stay–and many other parts of the country … Though most of the capital remains highly unsafe, and militias are becoming increasingly prevalent, American officials and journalists do not often see the armed groups because they generally stay within the small area surrounding the U.S. compounds and the Palestine and Sheraton Hotels, an area protected by Abrams tanks and machine-gun-wielding soldiers.