Excerpt
SUMMARY: When the Islamic State group took over parts of Iraq, the government turned to Iran and Iraqi citizens for help. Special correspondent Jane Arraf visits a training center of volunteers who were inspired by Iran’s Supreme Leader, and a Shia community that’s sending its young men to battle.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): We turn now to Iraq, and the war against the Islamic State group, where Iraqi Shia militia, many backed by Iran, are often the ones leading the fight.
That activity was on display most recently in Tikrit, where the Shia were accused of looting and atrocities after retaking the Sunni Muslim city.
These militia have a long, bloody history with American forces, too.
The top American commander for the region spoke recently at a Senate hearing.
GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN, Commander, U.S. Central Command: I would like just to highlight, sir, that three tours in Iraq commanding troops who were brutalized by some of these Shia militias, I will not, and I hope we never coordinate or cooperate with the Shia militias.
GWEN IFILL: In the final report in her series from Iraq, NewsHour special correspondent Jane Arraf traveled south of Baghdad, where she was granted special access to the Shia militia group and its training operation.
JANE ARRAF, Special Correspondent: These men have answered a call by Iraq’s most revered Shia religious leader to fight the Islamic State group.
But this brigade’s inspiration is Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Their month-long training starts with the basics. “This is an automatic Kalashnikov,” instructor Ali Hussein tells them. “It’s a Russian-made rifle with the best mechanism in the world.”
When the I.S. group, known here as Da’esh, took over Mosul last year, entire divisions of the Iraqi army collapsed. The Iraqi government turned to Iran and Iraqi citizens for help. There are at least four other training centers like this in Nasiriyah. In this one alone, they have trained 2,000 fighters. Most of them are young men, but the only real requirement is a willingness to fight.
More than 100,000 men joined up after the Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa, calling on those who could to join the fight. Nasiriyah, 200 miles south of Baghdad, has a long history of fighting. At 17, Ali Jabber Hussein is the youngest recruit here. His father was wounded fighting against Saddam Hussein’s forces. Two of his uncles were killed.
No comments:
Post a Comment