Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/iraqi-pm-calls-on-militias-to-cease-fighting-in-basra Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki issued an ultimatum Wednesday for Shiite militias to lay down their arms against Iraqi security forces in Basra on the second day of deadly fighting among rival factions vying for power in the oil-rich city. Experts examine what the unrest may mean for U.S. military efforts. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. MARGARET WARNER: And to help us understand why this fighting has broken out among Shias and where it may lead, we turn to Juan Cole, a professor of history at the University of Michigan and author of "Sacred Space and Holy War," a book about Iraqi Shiites.And Trudy Rubin, a foreign affairs columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, she last visited Iraq in December, her ninth trip there since 2003.Welcome to you both.Professor Cole, most Americans have been under the impression that things have really calmed down in Iraq, security-wise. Why this outbreak now among Shiite factions?JUAN COLE, University of Michigan: Well, with regard to Basra, the impression of calm was mistaken. Basra is kind of a no-man's land. There are gangs fighting one another. It's kind of Al Capone's Chicago, and it hasn't been calm at all.But, of course, there are very few American troops down there, and it is dangerous to report from there, so we just haven't heard so much about it. MARGARET WARNER: But go ahead, what explains now — why would the government of Prime Minister Maliki be going into Basra now, and it looks like trying to establish some sort of control there? JUAN COLE: Well, there are several party militias that are fighting turf wars with one another, in addition to tribal mafias, that are seeking to control rights to gasoline and kerosene smuggling worth billions a year. And they're siphoning it off from the central government. They're basically stealing it from Mr. al-Maliki, and he wants them to stop. MARGARET WARNER: Trudy Rubin, is that how you see it, that this is about economic control as much as anything else? TRUDY RUBIN, The Philadelphia Inquirer: I think it definitely is about economic control, because this oil is worth probably billions, and Basra has been totally out of control. It's the port where most oil is exported.In addition, it's about political control. The government in the center has been accused of being useless and weak. And I think that Prime Minister Maliki is trying to show that he's capable of exerting some control with Iraqi military forces over these warring militias that have made Basra Hell.And the British troops down there have basically withdrawn last year to base, so there's no political control over Basra.But this is a story that can reverberate from Basra back up to Baghdad and perhaps overcome the calm, the relative calm in Baghdad, because it involves Shiite militias, especially the force of Muqtada al-Sadr, who now are fighting the government in Basra and could start fighting, have started fighting already in Baghdad, and could abandon a six-month cease-fire that has been crucial to the calm that followed the surge.