Human Rights

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Iran-Backed Iraqi Militias Recruit Teens to Fight ISIS, Jeopardizing U.S. Aid to Baghdad

Iraqi Shiite militias, known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a number of which are backed by Iran, are recruiting and training teens as young as 15 to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Associated Press (AP) reported Tuesday.

Hundreds of students have gone through training at the dozens of such summer camps in Baghdad, Basra and other cities run by the Popular Mobilization Forces, the government-sanctioned umbrella group of mostly Shiite militias. The camps were created after the country’s top Shiite cleric issued an edict calling on students as young as middle-school age to use their school vacations to prepare for battle if they are needed.

It is impossible to say how many went on to fight IS, since those who do so go independently. But this summer, The Associated Press saw over a dozen armed boys on the front line in western Anbar province, including some as young as 10. The PMF says the training is just a precaution and that it does not deploy minors in combat, and the government says any underage fighters are isolated cases who slipped through on their own.

The AP points out that the recruitment of children could violate the 2008 Child Soldiers Prevention Act, which prohibits the United States from providing certain forms of military aid to countries that recruit individuals under the age of 18 to fight. While the PMF are not directly controlled by the Iraqi government, they “[receive] weapons and funding from the Iraqi government and [are] trained by the Iraqi military, which receives its training from the U.S.”

When contacted by the AP, the American embassy in Baghdad expressed concern about practice but gave no indication that it would do anything to address the situation.

In I Saw the U.S. Hand Iraq Over to the Iranians. Is the Whole Region Next?, which was published in the February 2015 issue of The Tower Magazine, Michael Pregent noted that the PMF are often composed of militia members who once targeted American forces. The American acquiescence to their presence has been taken as approval by Iran to strengthen its hold on Iraq.

Indeed, Iran appears to believe that the U.S. is essentially standing behind them on the ISIS issue. This, in turn, is seen as a tacit endorsement of Iranian influence in Iraq. In fact, recent statements from key U.S. officials on Iran’s ostensibly constructive role in the fight against ISIS have been interpreted as a green light for Iran to increase its sphere of influence in Iraq.
As a result, what was once rumored to be true is now out in the open: Shia militias are commanded by the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guards-Quds Force. Shia militias that once targeted and killed U.S. and other coalition members now populate the ranks of Iraq’s paramilitary Popular Mobilization Units. Shia militias and their Iranian handlers are operating with impunity for the first time; not only against ISIS, but also against their Sunni enemies in general. As a result, Iran and its proxies now believe that the U.S. views them as a necessary evil on the battlefield and legitimate partners in the Iraqi government.
The United States has effectively enabled an Iranian takeover of Iraq. I know, because I was there and saw it with my own eyes.
This has given Iran and its Shia proxies enormous influence over Iraqi politics. Recent statements from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, for example, promise a more inclusive government, endorsing more Sunni involvement in government ministries and Iraqi security forces. To accomplish this, however, al-Abadi must get the approval of the Shia political parties, which means he needs to get the approval of Iran.
In effect, then, Iran now has veto power over Iraqi government policies.

[Photo: اخبار حول العالم / YouTube ]