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Don't Exaggerate Shiite Militia Threat
(Commentary) Michael Rubin - Shi'ite militias are heavily engaged in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq alongside more mainstream units in the Iraqi army as well as Kurdish peshmerga. There has been a lot of handwringing in the U.S. about whether the Shi'ite Popular Mobilization Forces, consisting of those who answered Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani's call to defend against the Islamic State, are bent on anti-Sunni sectarian vengeance. Yet many Shi'ites are simply fighting to reclaim their homes. More broadly, the Popular Mobilization Forces are not uniform or, indeed, even entirely Shi'ite. Many are simply staffed by volunteers who do not make the military their career but nevertheless want to do their part in a time of crisis. Casting the entire PMF as an Iranian puppet risks creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Iranians have been successful in their recruitment among Shi'ite militiamen not just because sectarian solidarity trumps everything, but rather because they have made an effort and the U.S. has not. The writer, a former Pentagon official who dealt with Middle East issues, is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.