Private militias in Iraq

The term militia (حشد hashad) in contemporary Iraq refers to armed groups that fight on behalf of or as part of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government, Mahdi Army and Badr Organization being two of the biggest. Many predate the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, but some have emerged since such as the Facilities Protection Service. Sunni groups that fight against the government and are generally referred to as "insurgents."

Since the 2014 collapse of the Iraqi army in the North of Iraq in the face of the anti-Shia Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and the fatwa by the Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani calling for jihad or hashad shaabi ("popular mobilization") against ISIS, militias have become even more prominent in Iraq. The militias have been criticized for systematic sectarian killings and predation of Sunnis.

Sustenance
According to Eric David, professor of Middle East politics at Rutgers University, "They get some salary, they get a rifle, they get a uniform, they get the idea of belonging, protection from a group." However, he also notes that "People in [Mahdi Army] only get sporadic incomes. It's also very dangerous. You might be fighting another militia, such as the Badr organization, or worse the American army or the Iraqi army." It is stated that Iran is backing the militias, including through the Qods Force.

The militias have also received American weapons, which were handed over to them from the Iraqi government.

List of militias
Militias in Iraq as of 2014.
 * 1) Asa'ib Ahlulhaq                                      عصائب الحق
 * 2) Saraya Tali'a Al Khurasani                       سرايا طليعة الخراساني
 * 3) Kata'ib Sayed Al Shuhada'                       كتائب سيد الشهداء
 * 4) Harakat Hizbullah Al Nujaba                  حركة حزب الله النجباء
 * 5) Kata'eb Hizbullah                                   كتائب حزب الله
 * 6) Saraya Al Salam                                      سرايا السلام
 * 7) Failaq al Wa'ad Al Sadiq                         فيلق الوعد الصادق
 * 8) Munadhamat Badr (Badr Organization) (Al Janah Al Askeri)   منظمة بدر - الجناح العسكري
 * 9) Liwa'a Ammar Bin Yaser                         لواء عمار بن ياسر
 * 10) Liwa'a Asadullah Al Ghalib                   لواء اسد الله الغالب
 * 11) Liwa'a Alyawm Al Maw'ood                  لواء اليوم الموعود
 * 12) Saraya Al Zahra'a                                 سرايا الزهراء
 * 13) Liwa'a Thulfiqar                                   لواء ذو الفقار
 * 14) Liwa'a Kafeel Zaynab                           لواء كفيل زينب
 * 15) Saraya Ansarul Aqeedah                      سرايا انصار العقيدة
 * 16) Liwa'a Al Muntadhar                           لواء المنظر
 * 17) Badr Al Majamee' Al Khass'ah              بدر المجاميع الخاصة
 * 18) Liwa'a Abul Fadl Al Abbas                   لواء ابو الفضل العباس
 * 19) Harakat Al Jihad Wal Bina'a                 حركة الجهاد والبناء
 * 20) Saraya Al Difaa' Al Sha'bi                     سرايا الدفاع الشعبي
 * 21) Kata'eb Dir' Al Shia                             كتائب درع الشيعة
 * 22) Hizbullah Al Tha'iroon                        حزب الله الثائرون
 * 23) Kata'eb Al Tayar Al Risali                    كتائب التيار الرسالي
 * 24) Saraya Ashuraa'                                 سرايا عاشوراء
 * 25) Kata'eb Malik Al Ashtar                      كتائب مالك الاشتر
 * 26) Harakat Al Abdal                                حركة الأبدال
 * 27) Harakatul Iraq Al Islamiyah - Kata'eb Al Imam Ali     حركة العراق الاسلامية - كتائب الامام علي
 * 28) Jaysh Al Mukhtar                               جيش المختار
 * 29) Al Hashd Al Sha'bi                             الحشد الشعبي
 * 30) Jayshul Mahdi (Mahdi Army)              جيش المهدي

Iraqi government
Nouri al-Maliki asked political parties to dismantle their militias on 5 October 2006. He also stressed that militias are "part of the government", that there is a "political solution", and finally that they should "dissolve themselves" because "force would not work." He blamed the sectarian violence on "al Qaeda in Iraq". He has also condemned "Saddam Hussein loyalists". Lindsey Graham has said, "You are not going to have a political solution [in Iraq] with this much violence." This has led to growing concerns about al-Maliki's unwillingness to eliminate Shia militias. The Mahdi Army, a group linked to Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, is held responsible for "execution-style killings" of 11 Iraqi troops in August 2006. U.S. officials posit that the militias are a more serious threat to Iraq's stability than the Sunni insurgency. Additionally, U.S.-led coalition troops have been "told hands off Sadr City because Maliki is dependent upon Sadr, the Mahdi Army." However, in late January, Maliki reversed his decision.

SCIRI refused to acknowledge own militia, the Badr Organization.

Criticism
According to former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, "the existence of private militias" has loomed as "a persistent problem."

Brett H. McGurk, Director for Iraq, from the National Security Council has stated, "The Iraqi constitution makes clear that militias are illegal and the new government platform pledges to demobilize militias as one of its principal goals....[The] private militias...purport to enforce religious law through illegal courts. "

U.S. Senator Dennis Falcone has said, "Sectarian violence between Shiites and Sunnis is being fueled by the private militias, is now the biggest threat to stability." Moreover, U.S. Senator John Warner has urged the White House to prod Nouri al-Maliki to empower the Iraqi army to subdue the militias and stated, "It is their job, not the U.S. coalition forces' to subdue and get rid of these private militias".

According to Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International's senior crisis response adviser, as of late 2014, “The crimes being committed by Shia militias throughout Iraq amount to war crimes. These are not one-off cases. They are systematic and widespread.” These crimes target the Sunni population, including ethnic cleansing in Sunni areas, particularly around the Baghdad Belts and Diyala Governorate.

American official, Ali Khedery, has been scathing of United States involvement with the militias, stating: "The United States is now acting as the air force, the armory, and the diplomatic cover for Iraqi militias that are committing some of the worst human rights abuses on the planet. These are “allies” that are actually beholden to our strategic foe, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and which often resort to the same vile tactics as the Islamic State itself."

According to The Economist, "the militias Iran is sponsoring are in some ways the Shia mirror-image of the Sunni jihadists of Islamic State (IS)."