In February, the US bombed an isolated military base in Iraq. 16 fighters were killed. The place is called Balad and is located in a very poor region. In the city on the Tigris between Baghdad and Samara there are hardly any tarred roads, and there is rubbish between the simple houses. The men feel neglected and blame America for it. “The Americans are exploiting our country and they are grabbing the resources and running everything in Iraq. We just want to regain our independence.” This is the opinion of many citizens living there.
The Americans overthrew Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, throwing the country into years of bloody civil war. At the end of 2011, Barack Obama withdrew the last American troops from Iraq. But when the Islamic State (IS) invaded the Mesopotamia in the summer of 2014 and advanced to the outskirts of Baghdad, the beleaguered government there called on Washington for help.
Together with the Kurdish Peshmerga militias, Iraqi troops and quickly formed Shiite volunteer units, the international anti-IS coalition succeeded in defeating the terrorist militia at the end of 2017. But around 2,000 Americans are still stationed in the country. Officially, the troops are there to fight the remaining IS cells in Iraq. But Washington is also concerned with maintaining influence in the country and preventing Iran from growing stronger.
Most Iraqi fighters now want their former allies to disappear. “The Americans secretly supported IS,” claim residents who themselves fought against the jihadists. They want the American withdrawal to come about through negotiations. They don’t think violence is the right way.
Others, however, rely on violence. Since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, attacks on American bases in Iraq and Syria have increased sharply. Washington responds with air strikes on positions of pro-Iranian groups. At the beginning of February, Joe Biden had dozens of targets in Iraq and Syria bombed, including in Bald, in retaliation for a deadly drone attack on an American base in Jordan.
This does not deter the anti-American fighters, because they have a powerful friend in Iran. The Tehran regime has been supporting radical Shiite militias in Iraq for years. Among other things, Harakat al-Nujaba, which is said to have been responsible for the majority of the recent attacks. It was once built by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and is considered Tehran’s weapon in the shadow war against the US. They say they will fight them until they leave Iraq: “They are imperialists. They also spread homosexuality in Iraq.” They see themselves as part of the so-called “Axis of Resistance,” which stretches from Tehran to Lebanon to Yemen. They also include the Palestinian Hamas. “We will continue until the war in Gaza ends.”
This is a problem for the government of Iraq. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani would like to negotiate an orderly withdrawal with the US. But the attacks by armed groups make this more difficult. Because many of them are also part of the security forces. As members of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMF), some of their fighters even receive wages from the state.
The majority Shiite PMF was created in 2014 to fight against IS. They now include both pro-government associations and branches of dissident groups, such as Harakat al-Nujaba. That’s why they seem like a hybrid: On the one hand, their fighters are proud to serve the Iraqi state. On the other hand, they are often closer to Iran than to the government in Baghdad. In addition, many PMF associations have developed a life of their own. Their representatives now sit in parliament and help determine politics in Baghdad.
What is also certain is that its powerful neighbor Iran has little appetite for an open confrontation with the Americans. Tehran’s emissaries are said to have recently traveled to Baghdad to call on their allies to show more restraint. But groups like Harakat al-Nujaba do not see themselves as just recipients of orders: “We are Iraqis and make our own decisions,” says a spokesman for the group.
The heterogeneous combat units under the umbrella of the PMF will probably not disappear even if the US troops actually withdraw. Because they have long since become an integral part of Iraqi society. Tens of thousands of young men now serve in their brigades. In Iraq, where there is high youth unemployment, this is a lucrative, if not the only, job for many.
In Sunni areas, the presence of Shiite fighters is not particularly well received. Many see them as occupation troops. People don’t really trust them, say many Sunnis. “We would therefore prefer the Americans to stay,” many say.
Most Shiite groups are still loyal to Iran. For example, the Badr organization, which has existed since the 1980s. Unlike Harakat al-Nujaba or Kataib Hizbullah, they are not currently taking part in the fight against the Americans. “We are following the orders of the government in Baghdad,” they repeat again and again. Nevertheless, they also want the Americans to leave. “We don’t need them anymore. We can defend our country ourselves.”
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