Friday, April 17, 2015

"Is There a 'Good' Shia Militia in Iraq?"

In a word, nope, although this Daily Beast piece would have you believe otherwise:
The overwhelming majority of Shia joining militias are not Khomeinists; they simply wish to defend their country. That needs to be understood and taken into account from the American point of view, and perhaps exploited. But we shouldn’t kid ourselves about the nature of the organizational leadership that exists now. 
If the U.S. goal is to find or develop Shia militias with less Iranian influence, it’s going to face a lot of challenges. The Quds-Force-affiliated groups have a marked advantage in promoting themselves. They have Facebook pages and websites, or course, and in many cases they also have their own TV stations.
Trust me--the U.S. will never be able to find and develop Shia militias with less Iranian influence. They may as well try to find and develop militias full of unicorns, Sasquatches and Loch Ness monsters.

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