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Will Iranian-Backed Militias Merge with Iraqi Security Forces?

(Jerusalem Post) Jonathan Spyer - Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi this week announced that the Shia militias of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) are to be fully integrated into the Iraqi security forces by July 31. The Shia militias are the main instrument of Iranian policy in Iraq. Not all groups involved in the 150,000-strong PMU are Iran-linked, but the largest and most consequential are, answering directly to the IRGC's Quds Force and its leader, Maj.-Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The Iraqi announcement comes in the wake of a sharp increase in mortar and rocket attacks by the militias on U.S. targets in Iraq in recent weeks. Yet this latest announcement is not without precedent. The first law making the militias part of the Iraqi security forces was passed in 2016. With the welcome cover of official status, the militias continue to act as the strong arm of Iran in Iraq. Moreover, as a result of the blurring of boundaries between the Iraqi army and the Shia militias, Iran's fighters have gained access to state-of-the-art U.S. equipment including M1A1 Abrams tanks. The IRGC does not regard Iraq as a country, but, rather, as one arena in which it is growing in power and prosecuting its attacks against U.S. forces. If the militias can burrow into the Iraqi state and benefit from the largesse afforded it by its allies, then so much the better. The writer is director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis.
2019-07-05 00:00:00
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