Thursday, April 17, 2025
US FEARS THE POPULAR MOBILIZATION LAW… “IT THREATENS WASHINGTON’S INTERESTS AND CREATES A NEW REVOLUTIONARY GUARD.”, 17 APRIL
US FEARS THE POPULAR MOBILIZATION LAW… “IT THREATENS WASHINGTON’S INTERESTS AND CREATES A NEW REVOLUTIONARY GUARD.”
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy called on the US administration, headed by Donald Trump, to send a “calm and firm” message to the Iraqi government regarding the risks of passing a new law related to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), warning that this legislation would transform the PMF into an entity similar to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
The institute stated in a report translated by Shafaq News Agency that “the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have been considered a threat to US national security interests and Iraqi civilians for years,” noting that “US-designated terrorists hold senior leadership positions within the PMF, including the head of the organization and the chief of staff, exploiting this institutional structure to secure government salaries for tens of thousands of militia members affiliated with designated terrorist groups such as Kata’ib Hezbollah and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq.”
He considered that “these practices represent blatant manipulation,” noting that “Baghdad is currently studying two legislative projects that could grant the Popular Mobilization Forces greater legitimacy as a national security institution. The first is the Popular Mobilization Forces Service and Retirement Law, which the report described as internally aiming to remove leaders of rival militias. The second, and more important, is the amended Popular Mobilization Forces Authority Law, which restructures the Mobilization Forces within a formal framework resembling a ministerial institution.”
According to the report, passing the new law would consolidate the Popular Mobilization Forces, which number approximately 238,000 members, as a parallel armed force with powers at the local and regional levels. The report emphasized that “the legislation will consolidate the Popular Mobilization Forces’ status as a permanent structure within the Iraqi security sector, not as an emergency force, but rather as a ministry-like institution that would be difficult to reform or dissolve later.”
He also warned that the draft law explicitly refers to the Popular Mobilization Forces as the “guarantor of the political system,” led by Shiite factions since 2003, similar to the role of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. This weakens the standing and prestige of the Iraqi armed forces and grants the militias broad powers that could include “militarizing the political process, from candidate registration to voting and government formation.”
The report also warned that the legislation could encourage militias to repeat the violence against demonstrators and civil society organizations, as occurred during the 2019 protests, it said.
He called on the Trump administration to act quickly and convey its clear objections to officials in Baghdad, via direct messages to the President, Prime Minister, and Speaker of Parliament, to prevent the bill from being referred to the House of Representatives for ratification. He noted that such a step would not require a significant American effort, but rather a “firm signal behind the scenes.”
He pointed out that the current tense regional situation presents Washington with a powerful opportunity to exert pressure, as the United States is redeploying its forces extensively, while Iraqi militias are keen to remain outside the US targeting circle. This provides Washington with leverage that must be used wisely to prevent “the birth of a new Revolutionary Guard in the heart of the region,” as the report put it.
According to the report, the institute called on decision-makers in the White House and the US embassy in Baghdad to urgently reinforce this message and shift from quiet pressure tools to more vocal ones, including imposing sanctions on the Popular Mobilization Forces as a whole, as Washington previously did with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
He explained that “these sanctions will have a broad financial impact within the Iraqi financial system, given that the Popular Mobilization Forces receive their salaries from the Iraqi government.”
The report continued, stating that “early US action to block this legislation would demonstrate the Trump administration’s awareness of the delicate developments in Iraq and its ability to deter Iranian-backed groups without waiting for a military escalation via drones or kidnappings and killings of Americans.”
The report concluded with a recommendation not to be satisfied with warnings, but to take concrete steps, such as imposing immediate sanctions on the General Engineer Company, the economic wing of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which the report likened to the Khatam al-Anbiya Foundation, the economic conglomerate affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has long been subject to international sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations.
TIDBIT FROM FNU LNU , 17 APRIL
Fnu Lnu
Article Quote: "The government enhanced the infrastructure for digital payments and transactions by strengthening protocols and systems to facilitate electronic payments across sectors...Awareness campaigns have been launched to promote digital payment culture among citizens."
Iraq still hasn't completed its banking sector revitalization programs...
All is NOT done. However, over half of the banking sector agenda was involved with Fin Tech and digital modernization, still not yet complete.
US OFFICIAL: WE HAVE HUGE OPPORTUNITIES IN IRAQ, 17 APRIL
US OFFICIAL: WE HAVE HUGE OPPORTUNITIES IN IRAQ
The Vice President of the US Chamber of Commerce, Steve Lutes, announced that “his country’s companies in the energy and healthcare sectors will visit Baghdad in the coming period,” stressing that “there are tremendous opportunities in Iraq.”
A US delegation arrived in Iraq last Monday, the largest US trade mission ever, comprising representatives from 60 companies across various sectors.
In a statement seen by Al-Masry Al-Youm on Thursday, Lutz said, “The American delegation listened to a speech by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani regarding relations between Iraq and the United States and ways to develop them.”
He added, “The US economic delegation signed several important agreements with Iraq, some of which were attended by the Iraqi Prime Minister, and this was in coordination with the US Treasury Department.”
Lutz noted that “this visit will be a new spark for developing relations between American economic and business companies and Iraq, especially given the many investment opportunities we seek to capitalize on in light of the long-term partnership with our Iraqi partners.”
STATUS OF THE RV PART 5 BY MNT GOAT, 17 APRIL
STATUS OF THE RV, PART 5
😊Lastly there is one article that totally shocked me (in a good way). This one is titled “IRAQ INTENDS TO PURCHASE AND MANUFACTURE 23 CRUISE SHIPS”.Really, cruise ships in the desert.
The Ministry of Transport intends to contract for the purchase and manufacture of 23 different vessels and boats to support the river transport sector and stimulate its movement locally and internationally as part of a plan to revitalize the sector in the country.
The Director General of the Ministry’s General Maritime Transport Company, Ahmed Al-Asadi, said his company intends to contract for the purchase of 15 tourist boats to activate the river taxi project, in conjunction with the Ministry’s plan to develop the Corniche dock in Basra Governorate, which is currently being referred for implementation.
Folks can you see it yet? Come ‘on! This article is the icing on the cake for today’s news.
They must have planned this Corniche dock project for a while and are now activating it based on money from the budget. Iraq is planning a vast tourist industry. We already know about the annual pilgrimages to Iraq, as Iraq is considered the cradle of civilization.
There are many museums and religious sites to see. The many waterways in Iraq are ideal for this project. I remember Iraq when I was stationed there from my Army days and I always said how nice it would be have peace and to be able to take a quite cruise down one of their lovely many rivers. These rivers include the Tigris River, Euphrates River and other rivers such as Diyala, Little Zab, and Great Zab also flow through the country. My point is the are no longer just riding camels…lol..lol..lol. .
So, today I am going to emphasis again that we must be patient and wait. Noone knows the date of the RV. Not even these idiot intel gurus i.e. TNT, Bruce, MarkZ, Frank 26 and an array of others. Our RV is coming but it is all attached to the reinstatement back to FOREX. This is a byproduct of all the reforms.
Iraq is now being methodically pieced back together and the goal is to have a booming economy. Why did it take 20 years? This timespan is based on two issues. One was the corrupt past U.S. adminstrations and the inability due to Chapter VII sanctions still being in place.
What we don’t know is exactly how far they have to go to get the reinstatement. My guess, and this is ONLY a guess is that when this Iranian issue is resolved we can expect wonderful things to occur. Heck… they told us today that by June they will have resolved the dollar crisis.
We will not be exchanging at the rate we want until the U.S. says so. In the meantime, we will just have to suck it up and put on our BIG BOY pants and learn about our investment. The more I think about it the more I realize we would not have even wanted this RV during the Obama or Biden administrations anyhow since they would have only found creative ways to only take it from us. That’s what socialist do – Spend and tax, spend and tax.
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