John O’Sullivan blames the troubles in Iraq, in part, on the US’s failure “to disarm and disband private armies in Iraq.” He then offers this general principle: “[P]rivate armies are incompatible with democracy or any form of stable government.” Why? because they “undermine the rule of the legitimate authorities--in this case, the U.S....”
These thoughts appear on the same day that the Washington Post reports that “An attack by hundreds of Iraqi militia members on the U.S. government’s headquarters in Najaf on Sunday was repulsed not by the U.S. military, but by eight commandos from a private security firm.”
