Written by Damir Nazarov
In the first part of the material about the completely “unnecessary” internal crisis of Iraq, the situation in the main Sunni province of the country was discussed. In this part of the material, a new conflict will be considered already in the Shiite community of Iraq, which also exposes populism and greed of power on the part of well-known Shiite politicians.
It all started after the results of the provincial elections in December 2023, when members of different parties belonging to the alliance – the “Coordination Structure” began to share power among themselves. For example, already in early January 2024, a conflict broke out in Basra between the factions of the resistance, Asaib al-Haq (League of the Righteous) against the Imam Ali Brigade, both members of Hashad al-Shaabi. The parties started a shootout with each other, and the main reason for the dispute is economic benefits and political power in the province. BADR is an old Shiite organization in Iraq, which began its journey as the military wing of ISCI, sided with Asaib al-Haq(AAH). Let me remind you that against the background of this conflict, the fourth month of the genocide staged by the Zionists against the Gaza Strip was underway.
Further, a political conflict arose between Badr and Asaib al-Haq over the place of governor of Salah al-Din province, where the parties differed in the list of names for leadership positions in the governorate. Nuri al–Maliki, a veteran of the Iraqi political scene and one of the most important actors of the Shiite community, supported the side of Asaib al-Haq. Behind the head of the DAWA party, in addition to a significant electorate, there are also a number of militias from Hashad al-Shaabi. The dispute between influential parties was not limited to one province, and already in Diyala, in the race for governor, BADR was defeated by AAH, which resulted in the beginning of a feud (in the period from November 2023 to the present day) between tribes, supporters of opposing parties. At the same time, in the province of Wasit, there is a struggle between the previously mentioned Brigade of Imam Ali and the ubiquitous BADR. The reason is the same – the post of governor. Let me remind you that it was already the fifth month of the Zionist genocide against the Palestinians.
In addition to control over the provinces, the duel between veterans of jihad during the full-scale occupation and the mastodon of the Shiite community even touched the post of speaker of the parliament of the country, where the warring parties have their favorites for this post. On this issue, former Prime Minister al-Maliki has again become an ally of the League of the Righteous, and Badr’s ally is the al-Hikma party. All these squabbles, disputes and scandals are connected with a personal thirst for power and money. But what is more shocking is that despite all the differences, all four oppose the confrontation of local resistance forces against the American occupiers. The greedy Four insist on the “temporary presence” of the occupiers and, after a while, “the subsequent peaceful withdrawal of coalition troops.” This confirms their personal negativity and hostility towards the factions of the Islamic Resistance.
But not only political confrontations and competition have befallen the Shiite community of Iraq, the old enmity between the followers of Shahid Sadr’s ideas has made itself felt again. So it became known that unknown militants killed a prominent member of the Sadrist movement in Babil province. After a lack of investigation, activists attacked the headquarters of Asaib al-Haq, thereby hinting at who the killers of Ayser al-Khafaji were connected with. The confrontation between the Sadrists and Asaib al-Haq has been going on for almost two decades, and almost always there are victims in the course of disputes and clashes. Today, the situation is doubly tense due to the irrepressible ambitions on the part of Sheikh Khazali (the leader of the Asaib). The killing of the activist will not go unanswered, the Sadrists will be waiting in the wings, which means that a new round of tension between the organizations will be very soon. All this is happening against the backdrop of Palestinian suffering.
In conclusion, it can be pointed out that Sheikh Khazali managed to negotiate with a number of key figures (Hadi al-Ameri, the leader of BADR) of the coordination structure in a fairly short time. Moreover, his party managed to receive criticism from the “brothers in arms” in the person of Kataeb Hezbollah, due to the lack of resistance to the Americans against the background of the “flood of al-Aqsa” and ignite old enmity with the Sadrists. All these points cast doubt on the successful political future of Sheikh Khazali. There is a feeling that taking advantage of the favor of certain forces from Iran, the Sheikh is driven by some kind of “arrogance”. And here I recall the words of cleric Muqtada Sadr, who in 2017 called it Asaib al-Haq – “arrogant militias.” As for Badr, Hadi al-Ameri proceeds from three things: 1 – his organization is the mainstay of the quota system, 2 – it is important to prevent a split in BADR, 3 – personal ambitions have transformed into a springboard for loyalists, including relatives. After all, without his support, careerists have no chance to break into power.
While Kataeb Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada, albeit in a modest form, are still attacking Zionist positions in Haifa and the occupied Golan Heights, the Shiite establishment, positioning itself as an ally of Iran, is busy dividing up the ruling posts and is completely inactive in the direction of occupied Palestine. In the Palestinian drama, it is customary to criticize a number of Arab regimes, although this is a waste of time, because all the Gulf countries, for example, are allies of Zionism, Jordan and Egypt are anologically. But are they the only ones responsible for the deaths of thousands of Gaza children? Logic dictates that it is not. Therefore, no matter how hard Shia’ al-Sudani’s cabinet tries to demonstrate its concern about the situation in Gaza, he and his curators are the same criminals as the ruling tyrants of the previously mentioned countries of the Islamic world.
i more than agree with all of this. true enemy of all islamic and arab countries is us-israel-eu-alliance. israel wants to expand to an area from egypt to iraq. so this is existential threat to all arabs. they should ally with russia and china and shut down all us bases in the area.
most arabs dont want that at all.
the same goes for slaves.
im sorry you are disconnected to the world like that. being doing that should be punished.
moreover russia and china should assist iran to gain nuclear weapons. there needs to be counter balance against israeli nuke force and iran should be able to annihilate israel, if they are attacked.
you show well why we armed and sitting ducks.
it instantly destroys credibility when one writes israel is committing genocide. it’s bizarre and strange, rather it shows your age and your weight