Naval postgraduate school monterey, california thesis approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

D. 
IN CLOSING: A WORD ABOUT WORDS 
There is a compelling need to redefine the term militia, freeing it of the negative 
connotations it has been given in the media and military and policy circles since 2003, to 
facilitate objective analysis in general, and of future U.S. policy options in particular.
During the course of Iraqi occupation, the term militia has often been used to describe 
criminals, radical extremists, and insurgents. Militias have always been a part of Iraq’s 
culture and performed valuable security and social services for their neighborhoods.
Militias in Iraq are most accurately defined as “small homegrown, paramilitary-style 
brigades being formed by local tribes, religious leaders and political parties,” which 
provide security to the local populace.
277
276
B. Tatar, “Emergence of Nationalist Identity in Armed Insurrections: A Comparison of Iraq and 
Nicaragua,”
 Anthropological Quarterly 
78, no. 1 (2005): 183. 
277
Lionel Beehner, “Iraq: Militia Groups,” Council on Foreign Relations, 
http://www.cfr.org/publication/8175/2007) (accessed April 28, 2007). 

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