Taming Iranian-backed Special Groups in Maysan Province

The growing number of weapons caches, bomb-making materiel, and rocket-launching facilities discovered by coalition forces in the Iraqi province of Maysan underscores the ongoing sophistication and scale of so-called "Special Groups." These groups consist of Shiite Arab militants who draw on Iranian cross-border logistical support, training, shelter, and funding to continue the struggle against U.S. and Iraqi government security forces. Maysan's long and largely unguarded border with Iran, its ungovernable marshlands, and the province's historic record of militancy and disorder have turned the governorate into the central front in the proxy war between the U.S.-Iraqi coalition and Iranian-backed militants.