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US and Iraqi forces fought Shiite militiamen during a raid on a suspected death squad in Sadr City on Monday. (Reuters)
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BAGHDAD — The US-led raids on the Baghdad Shiite district of Sadr City to take on death squads are nothing but tranquilizers and are not addressing the root causes of the sectarian violence, Iraqi analysts believe.
"It is no secret that police and security forces are penetrated by agents loyal to internal and foreign powers," analyst Magdy Al-Awsi told IslamOnline.net on Tuesday, August 8.
"The Americans and the Iraqis know this very well," he noted.
Al-Awsi insisted that the elimination of death squads is getting no where with raids on individuals.
"Police and security forces need to be first purged (from agents) and new units formed on patriotic and professional criteria."
US and Iraqi forces fought Shiite militiamen during a raid on a suspected death squad in Sadr City on Monday, August 7, in the latest bid to stem the sectarian violence that US military leaders say could lead to civil war.
The raid triggered a clash with gunmen loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada Al-Sadr, whose movement is part of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's coalition.
A US aircraft was called into action after the Iraqi army snatch squad came under fire, and at least three civilians were killed.
Speaking on state television, Al-Maliki said such raids "should not happen again in order to protect the reconciliation process."
The US has deployed 3,700 more troops in Baghdad to prevent further escalation of sectarian violence, which is claiming around 100 lives every day and sapping confidence in Iraq's Shiite-led government.
Analysts say the move is an admission that Operation Forward together, a security crackdown in the capital driven by 50,000 US-trained Iraqi forces, had failed to ease violence.
US Chaos
Nouri Al-Tamimi, another political analyst, blamed the US occupation for the emergence of death squads.
"Chaos reigned over the country when the US forces dissolved state institutions, which created a fertile ground for such squads and looters.
"This lawlessness, as the country is sliding towards a civil war, has blurred US occupation forces, which attack individuals indiscriminately and innocent civilians are paying for this."
He likened such random raids to "tranquilizers," calling the whole policy "unserious and ineffective."
"A real national reconciliation is the one and only answer since most of these death squads and self-styled militias are backed by politicians and even Members of Parliament."
American experts told The New York Times on Sunday, August 6, that the US strategy in Iraq has failed and needs to be changed with President George W. Bush's
"plan for victory" being clouded by a bloody sectarian violence that could lead the country into a deadly civil war.
Britain's outgoing ambassador has warned in a confidential memo to Prime Minister Tony Blair that civil war was "more likely" in Iraq than a transition to stable democracy.
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