IRAQ, ISIS, War on Iraq Iraqi Hezbollah, Iraqi resistance, PMU

Thursday, 9 July 2020

IRAQ, ISIS, War on Iraq Iraqi Hezbollah, Iraqi resistance, PMU

Description:

The military spokesman of the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades), Ja’far al-Husseini, said in a recent interview that Iraq’s prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi unmasked his real intentions by raiding one of the group’s logistical headquarters in Baghdad.

Al-Husseini said that the Iraqi prime minister’s real intention is to confront the Hezbollah Brigades and the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) as a whole, and to protect the presence of American forces in the country.

More than a dozen members of Kata’ib Hezbollah were reportedly detained during the raid in southern Baghdad in the early hours of Friday (June 26, 2020). Initial reports said several commanders of the anti-US group, which is integrated into Iraq’s security forces, were among those arrested.

Kataib Hezbollah is a key faction within the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

Source: Al Mayadeen News (YouTube)

Read transcript:
Ja’far al-Husseini, military spokesman for the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades (Kataib Hezbollah):

First, we must start with the US that chose a specific target in Iraq. (The US) chose to directly target a specific faction (i.e Hezbollah Brigades), even though it knows that all Iraqi (resistance) factions work side by side with the (Iraqi) Islamic Resistance, the Hezbollah (Brigades). The Iraqi (resistance) factions say openly and publically that they work as a single bloc to confront the US. Their belief in these words was reinforced on the ground after the martyrdom (of Soleimani and al-Muhandis), through which the Americans wanted to break up our united country.

The US chose a target in Iraq (Hezbollah Brigades) and chose to attack us, which made us hold on more to our decision to expel the American forces (out of the Iraq) and fight them with all means. We announced from day one that we are open to all options and we acted accordingly.

Then the Americans tried to manipulate some political parties, and unfortunately, they succeeded in convincing the (Iraqi) prime minister (Mustafa al-Kadhimi) who obeyed their orders and stood against not only the Hezbollah Brigades but the entire Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). This was his (Kadhimi’s) choice. If we want to talk about the motive behind his decision, we believe that there are advisers around him who have deluded him that by doing this, he will win the support of the Iraqi people and give the Americans a clear concrete proof (of his loyalty), such that if he travels to the United States with a record that shows that he stood against and put pressure on the (Iraqi) Hezbollah Brigades. What happened in Bo’aitha (a district within Baghdad) was only (for Kadhimi) to give (Americans) a proof (of his loyalty). However, he chose the wrong path.

Instead of focusing on serving the Iraqi people and following up on essential files inside Iraq, he decided to confront the PMF that protected the Iraqi state – not only the government and officials, but (protected) the entire country when it collapsed in 2014. Security services didn’t have (the capacity)…I am talking (about an area beginning) from Baghdad to the western borders (of Iraq), and to the northern borders with Kurdistan. There were no clear borders for the Iraqi state, even inside Baghdad and the Green Zone. The country collapsed completely.

The factions of the resistance are the ones who stopped the expansion of ISIS and had fierce confrontations with it, way before the establishment of the PMF. Therefore, when the fatwa was issued, these factions joined the PMF and exercised their work with sincerity to protect the Iraqi state. We never cared if the people of a certain province belong to a different sect, or if this province is controlled by a different (political) bloc. We were defending the entire country. We left the matter to the government at that time to deal with problems in Iraqi society and the political process. Our focus was to carry on these (military) operations.

Therefore, he, and I mean the (Iraqi) prime minister, who decided to stand up against the PMF, will find himself in confrontation with the Iraqi people as a whole because the people fully believe that the PMF is the reason for this state’s existence and preservation. I am not only talking about a specific section (of people) that support the resistance, but about all the Iraqi people who still remember (our sacrifices).

The prime minister’s move to stand against the PMF was wrong. At the time, it revealed to us his intentions which we (had) talked about in the past when we said that the prime minister came up with a deal – even if it was temporary- that masks (his real) intentions of confronting the Hezbollah Brigades and protecting the American forces.

What does the prime minister want from the arrest of a young group at a PMF logistical support headquarter (that was targeted)? A headquarter that provides logistical support to (resistance) factions across the Iraqi borders and the provincial borders. He (Kadhimi) claims (that the PMF) are attacking the US forces – the same forces which every Iraqi wants out of the country.Important note: Please help Middle East Observer keep producing independent translations for you by contributing as little as $1/month here:

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