Former intelligence officer calls on US to murder Iraq's PMU leader

A former counter-insurgency intelligence officer for the US war machine has publicly called for the United States and its proxies to murder the leader of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU that helped the Iraqi government defeat Daesh terrorists.

Mike Pregent, who is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, said in a tweet that the Leader of Iraq's PMU is a legitimate military target for Iraqi Security Forces, the US, "and our allies in the region.”

Pregent is a senior Middle East analyst, a former adjunct lecturer for the College of International Security Affairs, and a visiting fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University.

On Tuesday, the US embassy was evacuated after thousands of angry Iraqi demonstrators gathered outside the gates of the compound to condemn Washington’s fatal military aggression that targeted Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units.

US Embassy in Iraq evacuated amid angry protests over airstrike on PMU

The United States evacuates its Embassy in Baghdad as thousands of angry Iraqi demonstrators gather outside the gates of the compound to condemn Washington’s fatal military aggression against the PMU.

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi condemned the "unacceptable vicious assault" by the US that killed more than two dozen Iraqis and injured scores more.

Thousands of angry protests managed to reach the US diplomatic mission which is located in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, chanting “Death to America” and burning US flags.

The People’s Mobilization Units (PMU) of Iraq, better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, is a government-sponsored umbrella organization composed of around 40 factions of volunteer counter-terrorism forces, including mostly Shia Muslims besides Sunni Muslims, Christians and Kurds.

The PMU’s formation goes back to the summer of 2014, shortly after Daesh, the world’s most notorious terror group, showed its face and managed to occupy swathes of territory in Iraq.

On June 15 that year, Iraq’s prominent Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani intervened to help rebuild the national army, issuing a fatwa that called on all Iraqi people to join forces with the army in the face of the Daesh threat.

The historic fatwa led to a mass mobilization of popular volunteer forces under the banner of Hashd al-Sha’abi. The force then rushed to the aid of the army and took the lead in many of the successful anti-terror operations, which ultimately led to the collapse of Daesh’s territorial rule and the liberation of the entire Iraqi land in December 2017.

Iraq’s PMU at a glance: People’s force against terror

The PMU’s efficient role in Daesh’s defeat turned the force into a broadly-popular feature of Iraq’s social, political and security landscapes.

The PMU’s efficient role in the Takfiri outfit’s defeat turned the force into a permanent and broadly-popular feature of Iraq’s social, political and security landscapes, despite attempts by the US and its allies to depict the PMU’s mission as sectarian in nature.

In November 2016, the parliament recognized Hashd al-Sha’abi as an official force with similar rights as those of the regular army, therefore legally establishing it as part of the National Armed Forces.

Subsequently in March 2018, the then premier Haider al-Abadi issued a decree, which said Hashd fighters would be granted many of the same rights as members of the military.

Hashd al-Sha’abi formally inducted into Iraq security system

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formalizes the inclusion of pro-government Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters in the country

The decree added that PMU fighters would be given salaries equivalent to those received by members of the military under the Ministry of Defense’s control. PMU members would also be subject to military laws and be given access to military institutes and colleges.

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