{"id":1295433,"date":"2022-02-14T05:07:40","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T10:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1295433"},"modified":"2022-02-14T05:07:48","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T10:07:48","slug":"pentagon-report-iraqs-security-forces-overrun-by-iranian-backed-militants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-report-iraqs-security-forces-overrun-by-iranian-backed-militants\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon Report: Iraq\u2019s Security Forces Overrun by Iranian-Backed Militants"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpentagon-report-iraqs-security-forces-overrun-by-iranian-backed-militants%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1295433&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"article-category\"><a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/\">National Security<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"article-excerpt\">For first time, DOD discloses that Iran controls large portions of Iraqi security forces<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-thumbnail-container relative lg:mr-24 w-full my-4 mb-8\">\n\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"736\" height=\"499\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-469318080-1-736x499-1.jpg\" class=\"w-full lazyload blur-up wp-post-image\" alt=\"Volunteers from the Shia Badr Brigade\" srcset=\"denied:data:image\/gif;base64, R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-469318080-1-736x499.jpg 736w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-469318080-1-300x204.jpg 300w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-469318080-1-1024x695.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-469318080-1-768x521.jpg 768w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-469318080-1-1536x1042.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-469318080-1-2048x1390.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-469318080-1-1400x950.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-469318080-1-724x491.jpg 724w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"absolute text-white p-4 w-full text-right text-xs bottom-0 bg-black opacity-75\">\n\t\t\t\tVolunteers from the Shia Badr Brigade \/ Getty Images\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"text-gray text-xs md:text-lg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/author\/adam-kredo\/\" title=\"Posts by Adam Kredo\" class=\"author url fn text-red-700\" rel=\"author\">Adam Kredo<\/a> \u2022 February 14, 2022 5:00 am<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Iraq\u2019s security forces are overrun by Iranian-backed militants, the Pentagon disclosed for the first time publicly in a report indicating Tehran\u2019s anti-American militias have long been cashing in on U.S. taxpayer funds.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Iran and Iran-aligned militias continue to have strong ties to some elements of Iraq\u2019s traditional security forces,&#8221; the Pentagon\u2019s inspector general informed Congress in a new <a href=\"https:\/\/media.defense.gov\/2022\/Feb\/08\/2002934802\/-1\/-1\/1\/LEAD%20INSPECTOR%20GENERAL%20FOR%20OPERATION%20INHERENT%20RESOLVE%20OCTOBER%201,%202021%20TO%20DECEMBER%2031,%202021..PDF\">report<\/a> on U.S. military operations in the region. Iraq\u2019s federal police and emergency response division, both overseen by Iraq\u2019s Interior Ministry (MOI), as well as the Iraqi Army\u2019s fifth and eighth divisions &#8220;are the units thought to have the greatest Iranian influence.&#8221; However, &#8220;officers sympathetic to Iranian or militia interests are scattered throughout the security services.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The report marks the first unclassified admission that Iran controls and directs large swaths of Iraq\u2019s security infrastructure, according to current and former U.S. officials who spoke to the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em>. Though Iran\u2019s influence has been an open secret for decades, the Pentagon continued to provide funding to Iraq\u2019s MOI, which is siphoned to the country\u2019s Badr Corps, an Iran-created fighting force that was absorbed into Iraq\u2019s security infrastructure after the U.S. invasion of the country in 2003.<\/p>\n<p>The high-ranking presence of the Badr Corps in Iraq\u2019s security forces has long been a source of concern for Iran hawks in Congress. But the Pentagon\u2019s first public acknowledgment of their power is renewing calls for the Biden administration to cut off funds to Iraq\u2019s MOI and designate the Badr Corps as a terrorist group due to its ties to Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The DoD\u2019s Inspector General report proves what we\u2019ve known for too long\u2014Iraq\u2019s federal police and MOI have been infiltrated by Iranian-backed militias,&#8221; Rep. Greg Steube (R., Fla.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the <em>Free Beacon<\/em>. &#8220;President Trump\u2019s [National Security Council] warned of this exact scenario and made efforts to cut off funding. With this report in hand, it\u2019s time Congress finally take action to defund any U.S. support going to Iraq\u2019s MOI and federal police forces. Our U.S. taxpayer dollars have no place in the hands of the Iranian regime.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While the Trump administration privately raised concerns about the Badr Corps and Iran\u2019s growing presence in Iraq\u2019s security forces, it was not able to cut funding due to objections from the Pentagon, according to sources familiar with the matter. Despite their ties to Iran, the Badr Corps and other Iranian militia groups in Iraq are seen as central to the battle against ISIS, a rival terrorist faction.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was always surprising that DOD justified paying the MOI given their control by Badr Corps and the IRGC,&#8221; one former Trump administration official who handled Iran and Iraq policy told the <em>Free Beacon<\/em>. The official requested anonymity in order to openly discuss the sensitive topic.<\/p>\n<p>With the Biden administration in the final stages of inking a new nuclear accord with Iran, it is unlikely the United States will cut funding to the MOI and Badr Corps.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Given the concessions this administration has made at the negotiating table in Vienna, I don\u2019t expect them to do what is right. Enough is enough\u2014the American people deserve a competent foreign policy. They don\u2019t deserve their tax dollars going towards the IRGC&#8221; Rep. Pat Fallon (R., Texas), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told the <em>Free Beacon<\/em>. &#8220;This report proves that this administration and congressional Democrats are complacent in the funding of Iran\u2019s terrorism within the Iraqi government.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Matthew Zais, a former senior Trump administration official, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MatthewZais\/status\/1491913802098614274\">acknowledged<\/a> on Twitter last week that the Trump administration &#8220;tried to stop&#8221; the Defense Department from giving cash to Iraq\u2019s MOI. These efforts were followed with a bid by the Republican Study Committee (RSC), the largest GOP caucus in Congress, to stop American funds from reaching Iranian-backed militants in Iraq. In its 2021 budget proposal, the RSC called for defunding Iraq\u2019s MOI due to Iranian infiltration of its ranks.<\/p>\n<p>While this effort failed, RSC members say the Pentagon report confirms their worst fears about the MOI and Badr Corps.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The latest report by the Department of Defense inspector general confirms that Iran and Iran-aligned militias continue to have strong ties to some elements of Iraq\u2019s traditional security forces,&#8221; Rep. Joe Wilson (R., S.C.), head of the RSC\u2019s national security task force and a Foreign Affairs Committee member, told the <em>Free Beacon<\/em>. &#8220;The Biden administration should re-evaluate funding to Iraq\u2019s Ministry of Interior as long as it includes Iranian-backed militias, such as the Badr Corps, which were responsible for the terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>National Security For first time, DOD discloses that Iran controls large portions of Iraqi security forces  Volunteers from the Shia Badr Brigade \/ Getty Images &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1295433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1295433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1295433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1295433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1295433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1295433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}