But the soldiers he denounced were not Americans but members of the ragtag Shiite militia known as the Mahdi Army.

The campaign has been marked by the brutality of ragtag militias that oppose independence.

In response, a ragtag militia marched on Mataró, an important port town, and entered on April 6.

Remember, we're talking about highly trained soldiers here, not a ragtag militia.

Only a year after they seemed to have been reined in by the Islamic Government, the ragtag militias have returned.

The ragtag Liberian militias, bereft of popular support, would probably collapse even more quickly.

After their release, members of the circle slip away to meetings held by the ragtag militias being formed by Croatian nationalists.

The army required more than a month to push back a ragtag militia and win control of the presidential palace in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya.

"Colonel Bata Huri," he said; "undoubtedly the commander of this ragtag militia."

Your Conrad Mazian isn't a ship designer, he isn't an engineer, he's a merchant captain in a ragtag militia trying to prove it's qualified for strategic decisions.