Representatives Greg Steube (R-FL) and Joe Wilson (R-SC) recently wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, calling for action against Iran-backed militias embedded in Iraq's military and security forces.
As Rep. Steube explained in his letter, a combined $11.4 billion has been sent to Iraq for humanitarian assistance and training to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS). However, pro-Iran Shia militias such as the Badr Corps, the Abu Fadl al-Abbas Brigades, the Kata'ib Sayyad al Shuhada ("Master of Martyrs Brigade"), and Sarayya al-Jihad ("Jihad Corps") remain legal assets of Iraq's security and defense apparatus.
More egregiously, Iraq's National Security Adviser, Qasim al-Araji, is a senior leader of the Badr Corps, which has been involved in attacks on American forces even as the United States worked with the Corps to create the Popular Mobilization Forces against ISIS in 2014.
Since then, the same Shia militias have attacked American troops over 170 times in two years.
"Replacing ISIS with Iran-backed terrorist militias does not make sense and only fuels the onslaught of terror that the Iranian regime seeks to export. Furthermore, many Iran-backed militias in Iraq have not even been designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including the Badr Corps itself," Rep. Steube continued.
As a result, the Florida Congressman recommended several policies, starting with designating militias such as the Badr Corps as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOS) and then imposing sanctions. Moreover, he demanded the immediate cessation of foreign aid to Iraq until the militias were expunged from the country's security forces.
In his press release, Steube said, "It is completely unacceptable that taxpayer dollars have long supported a system where Iranian-backed militias are armed, trained, and legally part of Iraq's government. Replacing ISIS with Iran-backed terrorist militias does not make sense and only fuels the onslaught of terror that the Iranian regime seeks to export."
"I'm glad to join Rep. Wilson in sending recommendations to the Trump Administration on how to combat Iranian terrorism in the Middle East. Under President Trump's leadership, the world will be safer, and America will be stronger," the Florida Congressman added.
Similarly, Rep. Wilson said, "It's time for a new Iraq policy. It doesn't make sense to continue to send billions of dollars to Iraq which is at the same time funding Iran backed militias which attack Americans. It's time to put America First. In President Trump's first term, the maximum pressure campaign bankrupted Iran, and I believe that through his leadership, we will counter Iran's malign role in Iraq."
