| Publication |
2006.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Militias in Iraq were not effectively demobilised or disarmed because the American occupation forces did not apply lessons from previous experience. The United States did not develop a comprehensive plan for addressing all armed groups, but tried to disarm groups before a full political settlement was reached and accepted, and did not include a neutral arbiter such as the United Nations. Militia disarmament thus failed in Iraq. The failure to apply lessons from the past was compounded by the fact that demobilisation was attempted in a situation where no group fully accepted either the occupation government or the nascent Iraqi state. This failure allowed Iraqi security institutions to be infected by paramilitary groups, heightening the extent of civil conflict.
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