Excerpt
SUMMARY: What role is Iran playing in Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State? Jeffrey Brown discusses why that country has joined the fight with Laith Kubba of the National Endowment for Democracy and what it means for the future of Iraq.
JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour): Joining me now is Laith Kubba, senior director for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Endowment for Democracy.
Let’s clarify a little bit about what we mean by Iranian influence over these Shiite militia groups.
LAITH KUBBA, National Endowment for Democracy: Well, I need to start with, they are currently armed directly by a flow of ammunition, arms coming to them from Iran, not from the Iraqi army, not from the Iraqi government.
The Iraqi government is paying their salaries, but their commanders in the field, the network itself that really runs it are people who were formerly with another brigade called the Badr Brigade, who are now a political organization.
The current minister of interior was part of that brigade. The general commander of these forces was a former leader of the Badr Brigade. So, the Badr Brigade was born out of the Revolutionary Guards and trained by the Revolutionary Guards.
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