Iraq's government has declared that it will disband Sunni groups battling al-Qaeda in Iraq after violence-wracked areas are calmed because it does not want them to become a separate military force.
The statement on Saturday from Abdul-Qadir al-Obaidi, the Iraqi defence minister, was the government's most explicit declaration yet of its intent. The Sunni awakening councils, or Concerned Local Citizens, are backed and funded by the US as a vital tool for reducing violence.
The militias are more than 70,000 strong and often made up of former anti-government fighters.
I see this as a sign the Iraqi government is moving toward becoming a strong, national power. Once Al Qaeda is gone this is the next step to help stabilize and unify Iraq. The challenge will be to figure out a way to bring the citizen groups into the Iraqi government.
