Iraqi leaders turn against US-created 'militias' - Yahoo! News: "BAGHDAD (AFP) - The Iraqi government lashed out on Thursday against a US military initiative that pits civilians against Al-Qaeda fighters, accusing it of creating new militias in the war-weary nation. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's media adviser Yasin Majeed said the Shiite-led government was now trying to bring armed groups set up by the US military under the control of the Iraqi army. 'There are groups which have set up checkpoints without coordinating with the government,' he said. 'Apparently they coordinated with the (US military). They should be placed under army control.'"
Broken Spring? : Information Clearing House This is a sequel to my June 2011 article, ‘After the spring’, on the upheavals in the Arab world. It is an article that has been painful to write, because it brings bad tidings and offers a pessimistic analysis of the upheavals, at least in the short term, in a number of Arab countries. The outcomes and potential outcomes of these uprisings have also acquired new, very significant dimensions. These include a complex entanglement with the accelerated preparations for a possible attack on Iran, and a poisonous, sectarian aspect that could have the consequence of ripping Syria and the Middle East apart.
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