Unregulated Militias

Max Weber defined government as needing a monopoly on the use of force. When viewed from this perspective, you can see what a disaster Iraq has become. Through history, governments are largely a farce unless they control the armed forces. These militias have to be disarmed and disbanded, the Washington Post in their editorial is exactly right in their Editorial, A Slipping Last Chance:

How to rescue the situation? Mr. Maliki and Mr. Bush are likely to discuss a reinforcement of U.S. and Iraqi troops in Baghdad, which might help. Those forces will have to be more aggressive in confronting Shiite as well as Sunni forces -- especially the Iranian-backed Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr, which, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, seeks to create a state within a state to fight its own wars.

Currently Iraq is suffering roughly 3,000 civilian casualties a month, thats like having one World Trade Center every single month in a country with less than 10% the population of the United States. It would be as if we lost 30,000 dead every month on a per capita basis.

These militias have a long history. In the aftermath of our own civil war, the Ku Klux Klan, Red Shirts and the like wrought a terrible vengeance on their political enemies and made a mockery of our democratic process, not to mention the 14th and 15th amendments. The Freedmen were eventually left to serve a century of what amounted to peonage. In post World War I Germany the Freikorps served the same purpose, providing a platform of chaos that the Nazi party would eventually ride to completely dominate Germany. Hezbollah too creates the chaos that provides a tilt towards extremism. The current Lebanese government is unable to control this militia, and has been thrust unwillingly into the fray. Sometimes governments use these militias as a fig leaf of deniability as with the shanghaied in Darfur.

Given all these examples you have to wonder that the Bush Administration has so frequently looked the other way, not disarming the Mehdi militia in Iraq, allowing the warlords to hold corrupt sway in the south of Afghanistan, and actually funding warlords in Somalia. At some point we need to come grips with the fact that as difficult as disarming is, the alternative is far worse.

Gettysburg

July 1, 1863, the first day of the watershed battle unfolded. Robert E. Lee had moved his army up into Pennsylvania. He was feeding off the land and so it was dispersed when word came that the Army of the Potomac under the newly promoted general Meade was concentrating to his rear. He ordered his army to concentrate drawing it together like the clenching of a fist, each had instructions not to bring on a general battle. Lee found himself without his great cavalry commander, the flamboyant Jeb Stuart. Although he had several brigades of cavalry at his disposal, he missed Stuart's ability to sow chaos and see opportunities in Union positions.

The Union cavalry had been used piece meal and ineffectively was newly inspired by reorganization, refitting as well as tactical improvements. Two brigades of Northern cavalry were posted in front of the small town of Gettysburg. Commanded by General Buford he saw the strategic town was a crossroads and determined that the Union should take the best ground there.

Lee's army short on supplies as always had heard that shoes were in Gettysburg and General Hill determined to take them. As he came up the road he ran right into Buford's men with their breech loaded carbines, a dramatic improvement over muzzle loaders. The cavalry put up a ferocious defense dismounted, outnumbered three to one. Worse than that one in four was holding the horses. Just as things began to look dire, up came General Reynolds with his Union corps, including the hard fighting 'Iron brigade' that never backed down.

Troops from both sides were now marching to the sound of the guns, Lee's request not to have a general battle had long since been abandoned. Four Southern divisions launched themselves against the Union positions that included Howard's 11th corps. The 11th corps made a sad career of being overrun in virtually every engagement, most recently at Chancellorsville. Today was no exception, and yet the Southern army came up somewhat short at Cemetery hill. Lee gave orders to take it 'if practicable' but Ewell, recently promoted to take Stonewall Jackson's place demurred. Both sides spent the night bringing up as many reinforcements as they could muster.