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Airstrikes on Pro-Iran Militias in Iraq Aimed at Countering Iran
(The National-Abu Dhabi) Joyce Karam - Since July 19, there have been at least six drone attacks on the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Units militias in Iraq. U.S. officials told the New York Times that Israel was behind some of the attacks. "The working theory among many Iraqi politicians and intellectuals is that Israel would not strike in Iraq unless it has a green light from the United States," said Abbas Kadhim, director of the Iraq initiative at the Atlantic Council. Jonathan Schanzer, vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said, "I'm not sure how Israeli strikes would make the [PMU] more of a threat. If anything, they might deter them. As Iraq has slowly but surely allowed its territory to be exploited by Iran and its proxies, the Israelis have slowly but surely developed a military strategy for countering Iran and its proxies across the Middle East."