Although Iraq now appears awash in pro-government militias, the majority of the sub-state or non-state groups that exist today are a relatively recent phenomenon. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Saddam Hussein’s strong security apparatus dominated the security landscape. Except for a few notable exceptions, like the military wing of the Badr Organization or the Peshmerga, most of the active local, hybrid, and sub-state forces (which we refer to as LHSFs emerged either after, or in response to: i) the US invasion in 2003; ii) growing sectarian behavior by the Iraqi government and rising violence in response; and iii) the emergence of ISIL and its takeover of major Iraqi territories in 2014.
This brief provides an overview of how these three recent events have driven the proliferation of LHSFs in Iraq. It is not intended as a stand-alone document, but as a supporting reference material, providing some historical context to the field research and analysis shared in a study on the role and impact of LHSFs in Iraq. A separate, complementary background document summarizes the key facts and attributes of LHSF groups active in post-2014 operations.
2003 Invasion and its Aftermath
The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 had profound effects on the country’s security landscape, reshaping the basic distribution and structure of force in ways that still dominate the landscape today. The decisive defeat of Saddam Hussein’s army and the purging of Baathists from the post-2003 regime effectively dismantled the strong, state-centered security apparatus. Under Saddam, the Iraqi Army numbered roughly 385,000 in the army, 285,000 in the police, and 50,000 in presidential security units – one of the strongest state security sectors in the region.1 On May 23, 2003, the Coalition Provisional Authority issued CPA Order Number 2, dissolving the Iraqi security forces and effectively un-employing and antagonizing hundreds of thousands of armed men. This act created a vacuum of security control across Iraq. The decision, followed by a predictable failure to quickly create a comparable and competent new security architecture, launched Iraq into one of the most violent and destructive periods of prolonged conflict in its history, resulting in close to 200,000 civilian deaths between March 2003 and March 2017.2
The predominant exception to this breakdown was Iraqi Kurdistan, where Kurdish forces have been responsible for their own security since 1991. The Peshmerga, the regional guard forces of Iraqi Kurdistan, and other Kurdish Security Forces, notably the Asayish, a police-type force, remained intact throughout this period and in control of their territory despite the violence brewing south of their border.
While a full discussion of the insecurity and insurgency in post-2003 Baghdad-controlled Iraq is beyond the scope of this paper (and is well detailed elsewhere), it is important to recognize that the collapse of Iraq’s security infrastructure and the insurgency against the US spawned many of the militia groups and local and sub-state forces engaged in the conflict today. Many ISIL forces are drawn from the (largely Sunni) insurgent groups that rose up against US forces in the 2003 to 2007 period, notably the Islamic State of Iraq, which formed in 2006. ISIL forces are also significantly guided and enhanced by disaffected, former senior members of the Baathist military and intelligence services. On the anti-ISIL side, many of the Shi’a militias now fighting with the Iraqi government emerged during this period due to the changed political environment, which favored Shi’a political parties, or as direct opponents of the US occupying force.
In particular, many of the most prominent and significant Shi’a forces that now operate under the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), many of which are linked to Iran, began to emerge in the post-2003 period.3 Following the ouster of Saddam Hussein, Shi’a Islamic political parties that had previously operated in exile returned, bringing with them militias. The most notable of these armed groups is the Badr Brigades, which returned from exile in Iran after the fall of Saddam Hussein and formed their own political party, called the Badr Organization (Badr).4 Today, the military wing of Badr is the largest and perhaps most prominent PMF unit active in Iraq, with approximately 20,000 members. Badr has nurtured deep ties with post-2003 Iraq governments, particularly with former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s. Its leader, Hadi al-Ameri, who provides significant leadership to the current PMF, was Minister of Transportation (2010-2014); he also commands the Iraqi Army and police in Diyala, an eastern governorate bordering Iran.5 A junior Badr member, Muhammad al-Ghabban, was Minister of the Interior from 2014 to 2016. Ghabban resigned following a large bombing in Baghdad in June 2016. However, even though Badr has only 22 of 440 seats in the Iraqi Parliament, another Badr member has led the ministry since January 2017.
The presence of foreign troops in Iraq also prompted the formation of new Shi’a militias. Muqtada al-Sadr created the Mahdi Army (jaysh al-mahdi) in response to the US decision to shut down the main Sadrist newspaper in 2004 and the arrest of a prominent figure in the Sadrist movement.6 The Mahdi Army was the strongest Shi’a insurgent group in Iraq in the 2000s until Muqtada al-Sadr froze its military operations in 2008, which allowed him to participate in the electoral process. However, this group’s special forces unit, the League of the Righteous (asa’ib ahl al-haqq), led by Qais al-Khazali, splintered from the Mahdi Army in 2006 and continued attacks against US-led Coalition forces until their withdrawal. As a result, members of the League of the Righteous, which is formally part of the PMF umbrella and thus an official state force, are designated global terrorists by the US.7 The League of the Righteous is, alongside Badr, one of the top three Shi’a PMF groups today, with approximately 5,000-10,000 members;8 Khazali’s group differentiates itself as a dreaded Special Forces unit, which rarely holds territory. In 2014, Sadr resuscitated the former Mahdi Army as the Peace Brigades (saraya al-salam), which were instrumental in securing the holy shrines in Samarra after ISIL’s onslaught in 2014. The Peace Brigades are now also part of the PMF, but unlike the other Shi’a groups discussed here, they reject the PMF’s formal command structure and wilayat al-faqih, the Iranian interpretation of political Islam; the Peace Brigades have approximately 14,000 fighters today.
Another important Shi’a militia that formed around this time is the Hezbollah Brigades (kata’ib hezbollah). It is the only PMF group designated as a terrorist by the US, and its leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who currently oversees overall PMF operations in Iraq, is a designated global terrorist.9 Similar to Badr and the League of the Righteous, the Hezbollah Brigades have received significant support from Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah, and their approximately 20,000 fighters10 swear an oath of loyalty to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.11
A group that emerged during the period of American occupation but is significantly absent from the current conflict is comprised of the largely Sunni tribal forces who made up the “Sons of Iraq,” also known as the sahwa, or “Awakening” (there are some overlaps between sahwa forces and the tribal forces mobilized under the PMF, as discussed below). In 2006, as the insurgency against the US and Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) was reaching its height, predominantly Sunni, but also some Shi’a, tribal leaders became disenchanted with the more radical, foreign elements leading the insurgency. Their discontent coincided with a shift in US strategy toward a counter-insurgency approach that emphasized population protection and a more ground-based, bottom-up approach to defeating insurgent groups. Sunni tribal and religious leaders reached out to the US, asking for their support in policing their neighborhoods. With US funding and support, by mid-2007, these Awakening councils had organized into a full-fledged, Sunni tribal revolt of over 30 tribes, some 95,000 forces, against al-Qaeda in Iraq.
As the success of sahwa councils became apparent, the government of Iraq committed to incorporating them into state forces. Yet, Iraqi officials remained suspicious of these fighters – many of whom were former insurgents – and had integrated only two-thirds of sahwa members into the state apparatus when the US withdrew troops in December 2011. Of the fighters who were integrated, many were given only temporary positions or public jobs outside the security forces, which were seen as demeaning. The government of Iraq stopped paying salaries and marginalized sahwa leaders from 2012 onwards. Meanwhile, between 2009 and 2013, a targeted assassination campaign by ISIL against former members of the Awakening killed at least 1,345 members, according to some estimates.12
Although Sunni tribal forces have mobilized in response to the ISIL threat, they were slow to do so, and still have not joined to the same level as during the initial sahwa development. This is largely due to their bitter experience with the Iraqi government’s failed promises and fears of ISIL reprisals.
Sectarianism in Iraqi Government Fuels New Instability
A second major factor underlying the current, fractured security landscape and its numerous armed groups came in response to the new Iraqi state’s increasingly sectarian behavior, which was driven by an emphasis on de-Baathification and the infiltration of Shi’a militia elements into state institutions.
Sectarian behavior has been particularly prominent in Iraq’s security services. Following early reforms in 2003, Sunnis boycotted the Iraqi army; as a result, today’s army is dominated by Shi’a Arabs, although it is generally considered less sectarian than the police.13 According to US estimates as of 2016, the Iraqi army has only five functioning army divisions (out of the nominal 14). Of these, the Fifth Iraqi Army Division allegedly reports to the head of Badr instead of the Ministry of Defense.14 People associated with Badr led Iraq’s Ministry of the Interior, which commands the police and intelligence, from 2005 to 2006 and from 2014 to the present. In particular, there are reports that Badr forces are so thoroughly integrated into the Federal According to a security officer in the ministry, an estimated 70 percent of ministerial staff are loyal to Shi’a armed groups – in particular, Badr.15 Police, that it is difficult to distinguish one from the other. Fighters go in between the organizations as through a revolving door; they often conduct joint operations together; and there are reports that the Federal Police even allowed Shi’a militias access to detention facilities under their control.
Already in Maliki’s first term, there were reports of Iraqi security forces under thecontrol of sectarian-minded Shi’a leaders treating Sunni populations harshly. For example between 2005 and 2006 local Shi’a security officers in Tal Afar were alleged to have committed a number of abuses against the local Sunni population, including torture, extra-judicial killings, and sectarian-motivated property destruction.16 Such treatment – not only in Tal Afar but across Sunni areas – sparked sectarian tensions and violence, and contributed to the emergence of strong Al-Qaeda factions.17 From 2006 to 2007, the US-led counter-insurgency campaign, in partnership with the Sunni Awakening groups, decimated the Al-Qaeda leadership and tamped down radical Islamist violence. However, the roots of this violence – the sectarian behavior of the Iraqi government and forces – was only just beginning.
This heavy-handed treatment only worsened in Maliki’s second term, as US influence waned with the withdrawal of US troops and Iranian influence increased.18 With this new ally behind his back, al-Maliki felt he had carte blanche to extend his power and settle scores.19 Maliki relied on anti-Baathist laws to target political rivals, and swept anti-corruption officials and checks on his power out of the way. On the security front, he doubled down in appointing sectarian-minded officials in key local security positions. Many of them had strong affiliations with Shi’a militias, and the forces under them blended official and unofficial Shi’a forces. In Sunni strongholds like Tikrit and Mosul, security forces, sometimes in partnership with Shi’a militias, allegedly engaged in hundreds of extrajudicial killings against predominantly Sunni residents, the torture of Sunni detainees, and other abuses.20 In the words of lawyer and analyst Zaid al-Ali:
“Groups of young men were arrested in waves, often in the middle of the night, and would be whisked to secret jails, often never to be seen again. Former Army officers, members of the Awakening, activists who complained too much about corruption, devout Iraqis who prayed a little too often at their local mosques — all were targeted. Many were never charged with crimes or brought before a judge. Under the pretext of trying to stop the regular explosions that blighted Baghdad, these individuals were subjected to severe abuse.”21
Such behavior fueled the re-emergence of radical Islamist Sunni movements, and laid the foundation for the political and security environment that enable ISIL’s takeover. Anti-government protests and sit-ins became a common phenomenon in Iraq.22 For the first time since the Sunni Awakening, the number of security incidents, such as vehicle-bound IEDs, increased dramatically from 2012. ISIL also attacked prisons in central Iraq where Sunnis were disproportionately held on terrorism charges.
Significantly for this study, Maliki’s reign also enabled further the growth of Shi’a militias. Groups that had existed before, but as shadowy, illegal armed groups, could now more brazenly carry out their sectarian agendas. In addition, rather than relying solely on the ISF, which were considered weak and ineffective, al-Maliki decided to expand Shi’a militia operations within Iraq to respond to the upsurge in violence. Shi’a militias, often acting at the government’s behest, committed gross human rights abuses, including attacking peaceful protestors.23 These abuses resulted in a mutually reinforcing spiral of violence.
The Fight Against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant
While the political situation in Iraq escalated, across the border, Syria was engulfed in a civil war touched off by the Arab Spring protests. The Sunni grievances spawned by al-Maliki’s sectarian policies and the security vacuum on both sides of the porous Iraq-Syria border created both the spark and the breathing space for what remained of theIslamic State of Iraq to be reborn as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
This force was significantly more brutal and territorially aggressive than its previous iteration, and the Iraqi army suffered one humiliating defeat after another as it was forced to retreat from ISIL: a smaller but more organized and determined force. By early January 2014, ISIL had taken control of the Sunni Arab cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. Then, in the space of a week (between June 9 and June 16, 2014), ISIL took large swaths of territory in Ninewa, Salah ad-Din, and Kirkuk, as Iraqi forces abandoned their posts and fled. On June 10, after a pitched battle, ISIL assumed control of Iraq’s second biggest city, Mosul, and began moving west toward strategic areas on the Syrian and Kurdish borders, in Tal Afar district. ISIL fighters simultaneously began moving east and in days expanded their control to Tikrit, the capital of Salah ad-Din governorate, as well as much of the governorate on the road to Baghdad and into Hawija and surrounding areas in Kirkuk. On June 12, ISIL executed several hundred Shi’a recruits of the Iraqi army who were stationed at Camp Speicher, just north of Tikrit, and distributed a propaganda video publicizing what came to be known as the “Camp Speicher massacre.”24 The incident enraged the Shi’a community and became a rallying event for Shi’a forces.25