Why The Russians Won't Win Against Extremists in Iraq

Hardly surprising perhaps but some of the most prominent Shiite Muslim volunteer militias – Hezbollah in Iraq, the Badr organization and the League of the Righteous – were the first to officially welcome the Russian intervention. And this is not surprising because these groups are more closely affiliated with neighbouring Iran than with their own Iraqi government – they are supporting the Russian move without any thought for Iraq or its people.

In fact, their leaders have also said that the Russian move comes at a good time. Why? Because US policy is heading toward the establishment of an independent Sunni state, one senior member of the League of the Righteous said, and this will help put a stop to that, he suggested at a press conference.

It is also not surprising because in the past these militia groups have been openly critical of US presence in Iraq and there have been conflicts between them and the US during fighting. For example, in April during the battle against the Islamic State, or IS, group in Tikrit. Similar conflicts occurred two weeks ago in Ramadi city. Certain Shiite Muslim militias don't want to fight together with the US for ideological reasons and the US won't support the militias because they believe their freeing of Sunni Muslim-majority areas would be problematic.

Since the beginning of September the US had been stepping up its military presence in Iraqi government-held bases in Anbar province, sending advisers and weapons to the Habbaniya and Ain al-Assad military bases there. The US had also been training local Sunni Muslim fighters there.

All of this aroused the ire of the Iran-sponsored Shiite militias, who prefer not to see a strong Sunni fighting force. In an attempt to pressure the Iraqi government to diminish the US' role in Anbar, the volunteer Shiite militias stopped fighting in Anbar and once again, the IS group launched more attacks on government-held positions there.

“Nobody is thinking about the people of Anbar,” Ahmad al-Jumaili, a senior tribal leader in Anbar, told NIQASH. “We are just pawns in an international disagreement. Ramadi and Fallujah can't be liberated without a strong force on the ground and aerial bombardment.”