ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Falih Fayadh, Iraq’s national security adviser and head of the Hashd al-Shaabi Commission, says the future of the Shiite paramilitias assembled in 2014 to fight the Islamic State group is a “purely Iraq affair” in which the United States has no say.
On the sidelines of Rudaw’s first Erbil Forum, where Fayadh took part in a Friday panel about security, the Hashd Commission chief said the US has no right to demand the dismantling of the paramilitias.
“There is no space for Americans to express their opinion in this case. This is a purely Iraqi affair,” Fayadh told Rudaw.
The issue of American pressure has caused ruptures in the fragile new government of Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, who has been forced to balance the demands of pro-Iran lawmakers and Iraq’s US-backers.
Hashd al-Shaabi became an official part of Iraq’s defense apparatus in 2016 when the federal parliament passed a bill formally bringing them under the control of the commander-in-chief – then-prime minister Haider al-Abadi.
Hashd al-Shaabi is an amalgam of Shiite militias headed by Shiite political parties. Many of them began life fighting against Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces alongside Iranian troops in the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88). Some later joined the insurgency against the US-led occupation after the 2003 invasion.
In 2014, when the Islamic State group (ISIS) swept across much of northern and western Iraq, coming just kilometers from the capital Baghdad, the highest Shiite authority, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, issued a fatwa (religious ruling) calling for jihad (holy war) against the Sunni ISIS militants.
These pre-existing Shiite militias joined forces, while young Shiite men from the south, heeding the call of the Marja and the promise of paid work, flocked to their ranks.
When the Hashd al-Shaabi Commission law was passed in the Iraqi parliament in 2016, the Hashd won further official status. It was also called upon to formally integrate into the Iraqi Army.
The Commission, officially overseen by the prime minister, is today headed by Fayadh and his deputy Abo Mahdi al-Mouhandis – a US-designated terrorist – who is thought to wield true authority at the Commission.
“We are currently at the stage of detailed implementation of this law through instructions and adjusting these forces to join the Iraqi defense apparatus under the command of His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces [Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi],” Fayadh told Rudaw.
This will see the paramilitias insulated from political, partisan, or social influences, he insisted.
The recent closure of Hashd al-Shaabi’s offices in Baghdad was not the result of recent US pressure but part of the Hashd’s own efforts to dismantle fake offices and remove false affiliates, claimed Fayadh.
Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi has also insisted the pace of reform is not being set by the Americans.
“There is nothing of this sort. There is absolutely nothing,” the PM told his weekly press conference on January 15.
“As much as what you mentioned is related to me, there is no formal request towards this. This is an Iraqi affair, a question of sovereignty,” he said.
Abdul-Mahdi had met just days earlier with Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state.
Pompeo has championed the Trump administration’s clampdown on Iran and the reintroduction of economic sanctions on Tehran.
The US has demanded Iran stop interfering in Iraqi affairs through its funding and control of the Shiite paramilitias, through which Iran can project its influence across Iraq into neighboring Syria – a continuous land corridor to Lebanon and Israel.
US analysts frequently compare Hashd al-Shaabi to Iran-backed satellites like Hezbollah in Lebanon.
In the run up to Iraq's May 2018 parliamentary election, many Hashd commanders stood down from their posts in order to run for office. The formed the pro-Iran Fatih (Conquest) alliance, which came in second place behind Muqtada al-Sadr's Sayirun alliance.
Fayadh's Atta Movement broke away from Abadi's Nasr (Victory) coalition and joined forces with Fatih.