“In some cases our work is better than military or police forces’ work because we are committed to protecting our nation and to protecting our sect, the Shiites, from terrorists,” al-Kaabi told NIQASH.
Asked about how his militia worked with the official Iraqi security forces, he said that although the two groups coordinate, the League is not under the state’s command. “We get our orders and instructions from our own leaders,” he explained. “We will participate in combat missions with the army but we also work separately and we are more than ready to confront the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.”
The latter is the extremist Sunni Muslim group that led the takeover of one of Iraq’s biggest cities, Mosul, in the country’s north.
“We also get a lot of benefits,” al-Kaabi boasted. “We have good weapons, and we use civilian cars. Our members have ID cards that allow them to move freely around the city and country. That’s even in the Green Zone [a heavily protected area that also houses many foreign embassies, including the US embassy] in Baghdad. We have our own offices there,” he noted.
It is generally accepted that the League of Righteous didn’t just start working in this way recently; this has been going on for some time. As far back as 2011, the League’s spokesperson told NIQASH that the group “has good channels of communication” with the Iraqi government. Most recently they actually ran in Iraq’s recent elections and managed to gain one seat, in support of al-Maliki.
And its activities also cross borders as it has fought together with Lebanon’s Hezbollah group in Syria, on behalf of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
According to al-Kaabi, the League has been of great assistance to the Iraqi army, especially in the provinces of Anbar and Diyala, where special League units have clashed with Sunni Muslim anti-government groups who are currently in control of parts of Anbar.
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