For more than two decades, Iraqi prime ministers have pledged to establish a basic principle of sovereignty: Only the government should possess the power to decide when the country goes to war and who carries weapons in its name. Yet successive leaders have been unable to turn that principle into reality.

Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi is now trying again. This time, however, the circumstances surrounding Iraq are different enough to raise an important question: Could he actually succeed?

Speaking before the UN General Assembly, Al-Zaidi described a country that has paid an enormous price for decades of conflict. Iraqis, he said, have lost their children, their resources and opportunities for development. He envisioned a country finally moving beyond that era and toward stability and economic growth.

At the center of that vision was a clear commitment. The Iraqi state must have the final say over matters of peace and war, while weapons and instruments of force must remain exclusively in the hands of constitutional institutions. Those words matter because the existence of powerful armed factions has been one of the greatest obstacles to Iraqi sovereignty since 2003.

Al-Zaidi initially tied his effort to Sept. 30 to coincide with the end of the mission of the US-led international coalition against Daesh. The timetable has since evolved into a phased process. It begins with a 90-day period during which armed factions refrain from attacks in exchange for assurances that US forces will not target them. The weapons handover would follow, with completion scheduled for June 30, 2027. Even that timetable is being challenged. Some factions are reportedly pushing for an extension until the end of next........

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