Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is visiting Baghdad on Monday, and Prime Minister Hayder Abadi is none too happy with his weekend calls for Iraqi Shi’ite militias to leave Iraq, a call he said was necessary because the ISIS war is over.
Abadi, himself a high-ranking member of one of the militias, the Badr Brigade, rejected Tillerson’s comments, praising the militias as the “hope of Iraq,” and saying they ought to be encouraged instead of opposed.
The US has had a strange relationship with Iraqi Shi’ite militias, viewing them as allies during the 2003 invasion, terrorists during much of the occupation that followed, and in the course of the ISIS War, they were allies up until the moment they crossed the border into Syria, at which point they became militants.
Under Iraqi law, the Shi’ite militias are formally organized under a government ministry as an auxiliary to the military. The militias are largely aligned with different Shi’ite political factions, The militias were heavily involved in fighting ISIS, and have participated in early fighting between the government and the Kurdish Peshmerga.
Yeah Rex tell them to get rid of there own citizens. Way to go.
Wouldn’t be much left of “Iraq” without those militias and their Iranian backing..
I thought we had “given back” Iraq’s sovereignty?
Sure, lets pretend that Iraq is not 65% Shia. Lets pretend all Shia can be asked to keave the country. How elegant. Let us also pretend that Bahrain is not 80% Shia, kept in check by Saudi tanks. Lets pretend that 5th fleet is not there. And that Qarar is not on friendly terms with Iran, with whom it shares one of the world’s largest gas fields. And that today, due to the boycott by Saudis, Iran provides most of food products and other consumer goods. And let’s pretend that largest US military base in the Middle East is not in Qatar. And that Turkey — that just bought Russian S-400 missile defense— does not have a base in Qatar. And let us lretend that we fogot the pompous plans made in Paris not that long time ago about making Mosul an internationally managed city, as Shia, Sunni and Kurds there do not like each other, and Iraq could not liberate and control such city? And let’s pretend that after Kurd beating ISIS in Kirkuk and Sinjar US did not slit in Peshmerga eye by turning both to Iraqi Kurd PKK? And let’s pretend that Peshmerga did not turn both over to Baghdad without fight — with the exception of some PKK? Let’s pretend that US Special ops are not embedded in ISIS territory in Deir Azzor, making sure ISIS is safe there?
And let us pretend that Kuweit is not 40% Shia, or that UAE does more business with Iran then all GCC countries ccombined. And that Lebanon is not at least one third Shia. And that Oman never had intentions to break relationship with Iran, being itself a variety of Sunni religion not pleasing to Saudi Arabia.
And let us pretend US actually has a plan for what to do there. And if the plan includes asking all those countries to send all their Shia population to Iran — there won’t be enough trains in the Muddle East to ship them off. I have read some more direct final solutions fior Shia population from various authors, such as Davud Goldman, aka Spengler. He proposes killing all Shia in Lebanon, nuke Iran, and poison their water. Published in Asia Times as if such contemplations are the most normal thing in the world. Let us pretend this is not truth — and that we will wake up from the nightmare.