Page 10 - MEOG Week 26

MEOG Poli C y MEOG

Iraq raids Iranian-backed militia

iraQ IN May, after barely a month in office, Prime In the first strategic dialogue between the
Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi authorised Iraqi countries in a decade, uS and Iraq officials
security forces to carry out a raid on a pro-Iran have agreed to reduce the number of American
militant outfit in the southern oil-rich city of troops in the Middle East country in the coming
Basra. At the time this was hailed as a significant months but fell short of providing a timeframe.
show of force against malign Iranian influence; Chaired by the Senior under-Secretary of
the attack resulted in the arrest of Iran-backed Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abdul Karim
Shia militants belonging to a little-known group Hashem Mustafa, and uS under-Secretary for
called Thaer Allah, or the Vengeance of God. Political Affairs David Hale, the talks were lim-
The May raid has now been followed by a sec- ited to a short preliminary online session owing
ond initiative in which Iraqi forces have detained to coronavirus-related travel restrictions. They
14 members of the group Khataib Hezbollah. laid out the agenda for what is expected to be a
The Iraqi forces raided the Iranian-backed mili- months-long discussion focused on uS troops’
tia, which is suspected of carrying out a spate of withdrawal along with the future of security,
rocket attacks against uS forces, making good on counterterrorism, political, economic and cul-
the new prime minister’s promise to crack down tural relations. Although no timeline for with-
on armed groups that have strained the country’s drawal was announced the uS-led coalition has
relations with the uS. since pulled out from six bases and consolidated
The Thursday night raid on a brigade head- its presence to only three. Some Iran-backed
quarters of the militia, Khataib Hezbollah, was groups that led the calls for withdrawal are said
intended to “to send a message that there is no to have softened their tone in recent weeks.
red line and no one is above the law and everyone With the raid on Khataib Hezbollah, al-Ka-
must be subject to it,” General Yahya Rasool, the dhimi has become the country’s first leader to
military spokesman for Prime Minister al-Ka- move against one of the Iranian-backed armed
dhimi, said on Friday. Since October, nearly groups. The 14 members of the militia who were
three dozen attacks have targeted uS interests detained included one man the Iraqis said had
in Iraq, including a range of military bases, the been involved with previous rocket attacks and
uS embassy in Baghdad and uS oil companies. was believed to be planning another.
They have killed Iraqi, uS and uK military per- The armed groups, which were formed as
sonnel. The uS has blamed Kataib Hezbollah for volunteer militias to help fight the Islamic State
the attacks and has retaliated twice, in both cases in 2014, became national heroes in that war,
after rockets killed uS military personnel sta- which ended in 2018. Since then, many have
tioned at Iraqi bases. The uS response in March proved an invaluable ballast to the government’s
also killed three members of the Iraqi security security forces, but a few have presented serious
forces, increasing tensions with Iraq. The Janu- problems. Of the more than 20 militias, only a
ary airstrikes set off a series of events that pushed handful have close ties to Iran. But those groups,
the united States to the brink of war with Iran including Khataib Hezbollah, have become the
and led to a resolution in Iraq’s Parliament to most powerful. Most have political wings within
expel uS forces. At the same time Washington the Iraqi Parliament, where they often promote
has put pressure on Baghdad to take tougher Iran’s interests. Since 2017, the militias have been
action against the militia group. regularised and they now receive salaries, weap-
However, the militias have not been deterred ons and training from the Iraqi government.
and at least four attacks have been made on Iraqi They ostensibly report to the prime minister
military bases and on Baghdad’s Green Zone, but in practice maintain a great deal of independ-
home to the uS embassy, in the past two weeks. ence. The legal status of some of these groups is
murky because they are at once part of the gov-
Fresh approach ernment’s security forces, but also flout Iraqi
Al-Kadhimi took office in May promising a fresh law. Iran’s close ties to the militias as well as to
approach, including cracking down on govern- Iraq’s previous political leaders inhibited efforts
ment corruption and strengthening the rule of to move against the groups when they attacked
law. He also promised to protect foreign diplo- Iraqi forces and the Green Zone. The powerless-
matic missions and international forces serving ness of the Iraqi government in the face of the
at the request of the Iraqi government. Khataib Hezbollah was clear in January when
Seen as closer to the united States than his several thousand militia members marched on
predecessors, he opened a strategic dialogue the Green Zone after the united States bombed
with Washington this month aimed in part Khataib Hezbollah bases in western Iraq.
at resetting the size and mission of American Members of the group vandalised the wall
troops in Iraq and obtaining commitments for surrounding the uS Embassy and set fire to
economic aid. As part of the talks, Washing- some of the embassy guard posts. The then-
ton has already pledged to continue reducing prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, was slow to
in-country troop levels, which numbered about use force to protect the embassy, and the militia
5,200 last year. The uS returned to Iraq to help in members left only after he promised to push leg-
the fight against ISIL. islation expelling the uS military.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 26 01•July•2020