This may be a bit
off topic, but studying current militia disputes may be informative to those
interested in American militias past and present.
President Jalal Talabani's backing of
the Shiite Badr Brigade militia came despite accusations by Sunni leaders that
the militia has killed members of the minority. The Sunni leaders have
demanded that it be disarmed and complained that it provides intelligence
and support for some Shiite-dominated special security
units.
The Badr Brigade was the military wing
of the country's largest Shiite political party, the Supreme Council of the
Islamic Republic in Iraq.
{GS: Were their any militias in the US that
were partisan, or tied to sects? }
There are no accurate figures on the
size of the brigade, but it is thought to be smaller than the Kurdish Peshmerga
militia, estimated at 100,000. The Peshmerga has been largely exempted from
efforts to disband militias because of its close ties to the United States and
its supporting role during the war.
-----------------
Guy Smith
Author, Gun Facts
www.GunFacts.info
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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