Iraqi militias must be forced to disarm

Armed groups only serve the narrow interests of their political masters and their sectarian agendas

Over the past weeks, there have been a series of clashes between Iraqi security forces and armed militias, with the most recent incident on Wednesday when pro-Iranian militia fighters fought with police near the headquarters of the powerful Hezbollah brigade in Baghdad. According to reports from the Interior Ministry, two police officers were among those injured in the fight with militia men associated with Hashid Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces, that successfully battled Daesh last year.

The events of these past years show that Iraq needs stability and peace more than anything else. That needs to be a key objective of any new government. Its police services, security administration and military forces must be given the opportunity and backing to ensure that peace is upheld and that stability returns within the broken land.

Simply put, the presence of armed militias severely impedes the development of civil society across Iraq.

Armed militias have no place in a civil society. Their very presence undermines the authority of the state security and police services. At their most basic level, these militias merely serve the political and sectarian interests of their political masters. There is a reality too that they act on the orders of leaders with narrow political views or serve the agenda of the regime in Tehran. This should not be allowed to continue.

Pertinently, Daesh has been eliminated from Iraqi territory only after a long and bitter campaign that required the combined efforts of international forces and armed militias to fight from every town and city occupied by the terrorists.

But the reality now is that these militias now have a destabilising effect on Iraq and undermine the authority and legitimacy of the government and its security forces.

The task of forming a new government in Iraq is difficult enough and the results of that process need to be respected. Armed militias acting on behalf of political parties serve none other than those parties, and they undermine the legitimacy of the election result too. Strong-arming and threatening behaviour, too, in pursuit of controlling parts of Baghdad and dividing up territories merely serve their own purposes.

If Iraq is to return fully to the rule of law and order, these militias must disarm and disband. Iraqis have been through too much already to endure more of the same.