While reading the news below... I became a bit perturbed. What was going on here?PKK Deploys Forces, Arms in Daquq, Southern Kirkuk
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in coordination with the Hashd al-Shaabi militia, deployed forces and arms in Daquq district, southern Kirkuk Province.BasNews has learned that PKK has made an agreement with the Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia Hashd al-Shaabi to deploy PKK forces along with the militia group in Daquq, a move similar to the one in Sinjar.Hashd al-Shaabi has allowed PKK to deploy more troops and arms in the district, according to the agreement.Lieutenant Colonel Faruq Ahmed, Chief of Daquq Security (Asayish), told BasNews that PKK had a military base in Daquq before the October 16 invasion by Hashd al-Shaabi, but they left the base after the militias took over Kirkuk and other disputed territories.
The Iraqi militias, backed by Iran’s Quds Force and Lebanese Hezbollah, took over the Kurdish disputed territories, killing around 60 Peshmerga troops and wounding 150 others. The invasion created a humanitarian crisis as nearly 200,000 people were forced to flee their homes and their properties were either looted or burned by the militias.
First these same militia's give the PKK their walking papers and then they let them back? What?! Are we reading about the exact same people/militia/group? I felt compelled to understand, with more clarity, the background of the PMU/F. Who they are? Who they really are? While reading the article, which will be at the end of my report, it became quite clear why the 5 eyes media describes them PMU or Popular Mobilization UNITS. This is not what they are called regionally. They are called PMF- Popular Mobilization Forces. Let me explain. Understanding how language is used to manipulate, it’s apparent why the word unit, rather then forces, is employed by the 5 eyes media. Unit defined:a single thing, person, or group that is a constituent of a whole-When we think of a unit, militarily, or units such as our families, we think about the cohesion of that unit. Unified. Unity. As one.Example: “Unit cohesion is a military concept, defined by one former United States Chief of staff in the early 1980s as "the bonding together of soldiers in such a way as to sustain their will and commitment to each other, the unit, and mission accomplishment, despite combat or mission stress".The PMU’s, really the PMF, DO NOT have cohesion. Once I understood that fact/truth/REALITY. That clarified, for myself, the why of the news regarding collusion between the PKK and some persons within the PMF. I now understand that the PMU is diverse/divergent and anything but unified. In a unit. Together. Hope you do too?Let’s flashback very briefly to a previous report covered here:
October 30/2017:Turkey May Pay Heavy Price for Barzani Resignation
Analysts say the PKK would likely benefit from any chaos. The PKK has many of its bases in the Iraqi Kurdish region. “The political arena is the more forthcoming for the PKK presence because the KDP was the strongest ally in Ankara’s fight against the PKK. I don’t know how that will continue from now on,” notes Selcen. “But the fight against the PKK has become an agenda for Baghdad and Ankara,” he said.“Assuming in Iraqi Kurdistan, the PKK gains strength at the disadvantage of Barzani, I don’t see what Ankara can do but intervene one way or another,”
As I’d reported on October 30th, it seemed that all the turmoil in Iraq’s Kurdish region was created so the PKK could take the upper hand- And so it has begun. The article from Bas News makes absolute sense!Carnegie Middle East
The largest organization outside direct government control is the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)—over 60,000 fighters who stepped in to secure Iraq after state forces collapsed in 2014. Yet this organization remains divisive, poorly understood, and plagued by internal divisions, as it is both recognized by the state and at the behest of nonstate leadership figures. Key challenges involving the PMF will shape Iraq’s political and security future.
Setting the Record Straight About the PMF
- The PMF contains three distinct factions, based on various subgroups’ respective allegiances to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and Muqtada al-Sadr.
- The PMF was central to early efforts to roll back the Islamic State; however, the state’s security apparatus has since regrouped, reducing the PMF’s role in subsequent battles, including the ongoing campaign in Mosul.
- Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s government is in a struggle to control the PMF. Rather than integrate it into existing state military forces, he has thus far recognized the PMF as a legitimate, state-affiliated entity.
- The PMF has become part of a growing intra-Shia power contest. This pits Nouri al-Maliki, considered the “godfather” of the PMF, against Sadr, who calls for disbanding the “imprudent militias,” and Abadi, who advocates reducing and controlling the PMF.
Who wields control among the PMF factions?
Policy Implications for Like-Minded Allies
- Understanding subgroups is pivotal. The PMF is not a monolithic Shia militia. Policy recommendations must separately address Iranian proxy; right-wing, pro-Khamenei Iraqi; pro-Sistani; and pro-Sadr subgroups.
- Supporting the Iraqi government’s move to reduce the authority of pro-Maliki, right-wing PMF subgroups will better facilitate eventual integration. Sadr and Sistani claim to be willing to be integrated.
Yet the PMF remains divisive. For many Iraqis, particularly Shia Muslims (but other groups as well), the PMF is a set of religiously sanctioned paramilitaries—some refer to it as al-Hashd al-muqadis (the Sacred Mobilization Units). As one fighter from the city of Amarah stated, “You can criticize any politician or even religious cleric, but you cannot speak against the Hashd and its martyrs.”3 To many, these martyrs have given up their lives in defense of their country. Iraqi society is now full of popular songs, commercials, and banners that honor the leaders and martyrs of various PMF military groups.For other Iraqis, however, the PMF is a group of problematic militias neither accountable to the state nor under the rule of law.
Iraq is in the midst of an internal Shia political struggle over control of the state between former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, who wants to return to power; current Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is trying to maintain the power of the state; and cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who is bent on ensuring that the Maliki faction does not return to power. A crucial factor that will help determine who gains an advantage in this struggle will be whether the PMF paramilitaries are integrated into the state’s existing security apparatus and used to reinforce the country’s political status quo, or if instead these paramilitary groups are retained as a separate parallel and independent military force that can be used to reshape Iraq’s current political and security landscape.The PMF remains divisive and reinforces the uncertainty surrounding Iraq’s future
So Sadr forces are part of the PMU- And Sadr is, in my opinion, totally co-opted by the USrael. The PKK has always been allied with the USrael and looks to be filling the void left by the Barzani coup.. Order out of the chaos