Quote Originally Posted by Old Eagle View Post
Local forces MUST eventually be incorporated into the legitimate HN security forces or, as others have pointed out, disbanded. Incorporation, in turn, requires a formal and effective process. It's not good enough to change uniforms and wave a magic wand. The challenge is huge (but not insurmountable.)
The important point to reflect on in this post is how to incorporate those local forces. Perhaps in this regard it might be a worthwhile endeavor to understand how the US has managed to strike the right sort of balance between its various local forces (AKA state militias and National
Guard forces) and the national defense establishment. I suspect that the circle out to be drawn some what wider to include the law enforcement community from the local town sheriff/marshall/police through the various forms of state police organizations up to the FBI/US Marshalls.

My quick rumination suggests that, in America at least, the glue that binds the locals' allegience to the national cause is funding. By this I mean that the local militia/police force is tied to national goals and control mechanisms by budget support, such things as Federal grants, and other forms of financial aid. It is an example of the golden rule--"whoever has the gold, rules." Money talks much more loudly than high flown rhetoric about truth, justice, and national/regional (tribal?) pride.

Not being an expert on mid-Eastern cultural values, I cannot say that this same dynamic would apply in the AOR. However, I suspect that having the national government pass out (or take away) cool uniforms, shiny weapons and other prized pieces of equipment, as well as nifty badges and other symbols of office might have a pretty strong impact on efforts to control the actions of the local militia forces.