Iraq Rebuffs US On Shiite Militias

[edpc]

Baghdad (AFP) - Iraq on Monday rebuffed a US demand that Iranian militias leave the country, insisting that the paramilitary forces which helped it defeat the Islamic State group consist solely of Iraqi nationals.

"Nobody has the right to interfere in Iraqi affairs," the Iraqi cabinet said in a statement, quoting a source close to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

"The fighters of the Hashed (al-Shaabi paramilitary units) are Iraqis who are concerned for their country and have sacrificed for its defence and for its people," it said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/iraq-rebuffs-us-shiite-militias-132718802.html

[edpc]

This is what we get for negotiations with people like al-Sadr and the Mahdi Army to ‘make them part of the political process’ instead of destroying them in 2004.

[TomSea]

I don't agree with Shinseki often, but in this case, more troops indeed were needed.