Iraq: November 7, 2003

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The US has formed Task Force 121, a commando unit for quickly following up on any information about where Saddam Hussein and his chief aides might be. The unit has already come close to grabbing Saddam, instead capturing those who were assisting in hiding Saddam, and obtaining information about the Sunni Arab network that still supports Saddam. 

The Iraqi Governing Council is asking that they be given more authority over security forces. But this is being resisted because of continued corruption among Iraqi police (despite retraining) and the desire of many Iraqi groups (both pro and anti-coalition) to form legally recognized armed militias. This, it is feared, would make it easier for the country to drift into civil war. Forming a democracy in Iraq is made difficult because of the long tradition (going back thousands of years) of political power going to whoever possessed the greatest amount of military force. While many Iraqis are aware of democracy, and some have lived under it in the West, the majority of the population only understands the use of force to establish political power. 

 

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