While Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as Popular
Mobilization Units (PMUs) are leading the charge in the operation to retake
Tikrit and central Salahaddin, the country’s Shiite religious parties are
thinking about their long term impact upon politics. Two of the pre-existing
militias that have joined the Hashd the Badr Organization and Asaib Ahl Al-Haq
already had political wings that won seats in parliament. They have been joined
by a wide range of other groups some of which were formed to fight in Syria by
Iran and others that are brand new having been created in response to Grand
Ayatollah Ali Sistani’s call to defend the nation after the fall of Mosul.
While some of these groups will fade away after the war with the Islamic State
is over others will persist. They could turn their role in the conflict into
political capital, which worries the existing parties such as Moqtada al-Sadr’s
Ahrar and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI). Both of those have
recently been criticizing some of the PMU’s, which could be just the start of a
larger struggle for power between them.
In February 2015, the Sadrists and Islamic Council took the
occasion of a death of a leading Sunni sheikh to attack the Hashd al-Shaabi. On
February
13, Sheikh Qasim al-Janabi and his entourage were stopped and later killed
in Baghdad. PMUs were immediately suspected given the fact that the bodies were
discovered in Shiite eastern Baghdad. Moqtada al-Sadr and the Islamic Supreme
Council of Iraq both voiced concerns over this event, while attacking the Hashd
in the process.
ISCI issued a statement condemning the murder of Janabi,
while stating that PMUs had to follow the directions of Ayatollah Sistani who
has consistently called for restraint and to curtail any abuses. Supreme
Council parliamentarian Falah al-Sari went on to say that the government should
hold a monopoly on force, and that other armed groups should not interfere in
security. He noted that his party had its own militia, but there were others
that were not following the mandate of Najaf, meaning Sistani’s directions.
Moqtada al-Sadr went a step farther by unleashing a series
of diatribes against the Hashd. Sadr said that violence against Shiites could
not justify attacks upon others. He then repeatedly condemned what he called “brazen
militias” who were not under the command of the army, who were out to
weaken the government, and who committed
murders that discredited Islam. He said that these elements should be
removed from the PMUs, and those responsible for torture and cutting off the
heads of corpses should
be punished. He claimed that his Ahrar bloc would get the courts to
investigate and punish these culprits.
The basis for these statements by the Supreme Council and
Sadr was the fear that the Hashd could become their political rivals in the
future. Since all of these groups are based upon political Islam they are all
vying for the same constituency. Many of these Hashd groups will want to
capitalize upon their service in the war, and entering politics is the surest
way to do that as it opens the door to a share of the vast oil revenues the
state earns. Sadr and ISCI are just as aware of this, which is why they took
the occasion of the Janabi murder to attack these groups. Sadr especially,
because he has a long
history of verbally and physically battling with Asaib Ahl Al-Haq, and
attacked all the Iraqi militias that went to fight in Syria calling them “foreign
entities” due to their relations with Tehran believes that he is on a
collision course with the PMUs. As time passes, these verbal assaults are
likely to occur more as each group begins to think about Iraq after the
insurgency.
SOURCES
Al Mada, “Sadr calls for the punishment of those who cut off
the heads of corpses and demolish houses from “brazen militias,”” 3/11/15
- “Saraya al-Sadr calls for Peace Brigades “to stay on
standby,”” 3/3/15
Martin, Patrick and al-Dulimi, Omar with Kagan, Kimberly and
Adnan, Sinan, “Iranian-Backed Militias Cause a Political Crisis for Iraq,”
Institute for the Study of War, 2/18/15
Shafaq News, “Al-Sadr decides to freeze al-Salam brigades:
Iraq suffers from brazen militias,” 2/17/15
No comments:
Post a Comment