In a move that threatens to upset the balance of power among Shi’ite
groups within Iraq, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has issued a decree demanding that all militia groups totally integrate into the Iraqi military by month’s end.
Such decrees have been proposed before but never followed through on.
The militias are all part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an
auxiliary to the Iraqi military. The groups are also independent and
many are heavily political aligned, both within Iraq and with factions
abroad.
The decree would force all groups to abandon their political ties and
join the military outright. Those who don’t want to do that are meant to
disarm and simply engage in politics as unarmed factions.
Abdul Mahdi’s order is likely meant to placate US demands to crack down
on “Iranian proxies,” which is generally what the US calls the PMF
militias who are Shi’ite.
In the past, major Shi’ite blocs in the government have tried to fold
the militias directly into the military, which the political leadership
controls anyhow. This is often proposed around elections, but generally
is ignored by the groups, and the leadership never really follows
through on imposing it.
“Abdul Mahdi’s order is likely meant to placate US demands to crack down on “Iranian proxies,” which is generally what the US calls the PMF militias who are Shi’ite.”
Shocking!