Since the 2006 bombing of the al-Askari Mosque, 4.5 million Iraqis have fled their homes, and displacement has become a central strategy in the civil war. To prevent the wide-scale militarization of the displaced Iraqis, donors and host states should heed the following policy recommendations. First, provide a massive infusion of humanitarian aid. Second, resist the temptation to build camps to house the displaced. Third, do not return the displaced people home against their will. Fourth, expand and expedite the resettlement process, especially for vulnerable Iraqis such as those who were once coalition employees.

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Can international humanitarian assistance organizations that provide refugee relief truly claim to be impartial? What happens when such agencies--knowingly or not--offer succor to militants dispersed among refugee populations receiving humanitarian aid, becoming in effect "tools of conflict"?