LONDON: Iraq’s Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilization Forces, have come to dominate all levels of society in the country, an expert on the Iran-backed militias said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the launch of her book “Militia State” at the National Liberal Club in London, award-winning journalist and broadcaster Baria Alamuddin said the militia coalition dominated the country militarily, politically, economically and ideologically.
Alamuddin explained that the Hashd came into being in the context of the post-2014 confrontation with Daesh. The coalition includes militias like the Badr Brigades, put together by post-revolutionary Iran during the 1980 Iran-Iraq war.
“Since 2017, these militias pushed the Kurdish Peshmerga out of central Iraq after the fall of Daesh and came to dominate all levels of society in these regions,” she said.
“What do I mean by dominate? First this means military domination. The dominant presence of paramilitary forces throughout central provinces like Diyala, Salah Al-Din and Nineveh.”
The militias also dominate Iraq politically, “both at the central Baghdad level by flooding particular ministries and key positions with militia allies, and at a provincial level,” Alamuddin said.
Then there is economic domination. “Militia leaders exploited their military dominance for immense financial profit. Mosul is bursting with militia economic offices which use political connections to divert millions of dollars in reconstruction funds,” she said.
Alamuddin compared the Hashd militias to gangsters, saying they “systematically extort local businesses and reap millions of dollars from illegal checkpoints or smuggling, including narcotic smuggling.”
Quoting Iraq’s Finance Minister Ali Allawi, the author said “90 percent of customs revenues due to the country’s treasury are effectively stolen by these militias.”
The militias also dominate ideologically, moving “into the education sector as well as seeking to dominate Iraq’s cultural and theological institutions.”
The dominance of Iran-backed militias in Iraq “is horribly reminiscent of what happened in my native Lebanon under Hezbollah,” she said. “It is also happening in Syria and Yemen, wherever these militias are.”
Alamuddin added that for Iran, the establishment of “Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi as a state-sponsored force was a wonderful achievement because instead of it having to fund these groups, these forces were now being bankrolled by around $2 billion a year by the Iraqi state.”
The lessons we must learn from the conflicts in Ukraine, Iraq and Syria is that “sovereignty, freedom, territorial integrity and international law are not natural attributes which spontaneously prevail,” she said.
Rather they are “fundamental principles which must be fought for and which millions of peace-loving citizens are currently showing that they are willing to die for and defend.”
“Militia State” was published on March 24 by Nomad Publishing.
