US-backed effort to disarm Iraq’s Iran-linked militias hits setback, experts say
Sept. 30 is now a coalition exit date, not a gun-handover date. Qaani already visited Baghdad.
Summary
- Fox News reports Qasim al-Araji, security adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, told Al Iraqiya on Aug. 23 that Sept. 30 is the date the international coalition departs, not a deadline to hand over weapons of the Popular Mobilization Units.
- Days earlier the government said all political forces agreed to restrict weapons to the state. Hardline Iran-tied groups including Kataeb Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba said they will not disarm or integrate. Muqtada al-Sadr's Saraya al-Salam favored integration in May.
- Entifadh Qanbar said IRGC Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani visited Baghdad and, according to multiple reports, told militia leaders to slow disarmament talk, reject the Sept. 30 deadline, and keep weapons as regional deterrence. Elizabeth Tsurkov said militias have penetrated most state institutions.
- The Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service arrested Abbas al-Yaqubi, PMF Baghdad Belt intelligence chief, then transferred him days later to PMU intelligence. In May Treasury sanctioned deputy oil minister Ali Maarij Al-Bahadly for diverting oil to Iran. In late August Iraq's anti-corruption body said he was sentenced to seven years and fined millions.
Commentary
A Houston night fitter still smells diesel and watches a partner capital that should not send a wanted intel chief back to the militia that paid him. He did not fund a coalition so Sept. 30 could become an exit, not a stack of rifles.
Sept. 30. Then the guns stay. The honest dad already paid the sortie. The militia paid the hallway.
Look every working father who still fuels a C-17 in the eye and answer this: if Qaani can slow the handover, who still wants the next militia on the state payroll?
Comments
Al-Araji Aug. 23. Sept. 30 is departure, not disarmament. Qaani in Baghdad. Hold that triangle.
I stood a coalition watch so a rifle would go to the state. A transfer back to PMU intel is a loss.
Al-Yaqubi arrested, then moved. Al-Bahadly seven years. Kataeb Hezbollah stays armed. Publish the three.
Allied capitals still treat a designated militia as a target, not a payroll. A hallway is a bill.
Al-Zaidi July 14 White House. Treasury May sanction. Tsurkov: institutions penetrated. File the three.
I still torque a fitting at 2 a.m. I want the next rifle off a militia truck before my next break.
A sailor's kid should not wait on a courtesy integration. Keep the pressure on the payroll.
A free PMU stack is a second front. The first arrest should have been enough.
Fox printed Aug. 23, Qaani, al-Yaqubi, and seven years. Argue those nouns.
Keep the coalition leverage. End the militia payroll. A visitor with a Quds brief is not a partner.
