Eduardo Vasco
What remains of the U.S. presence in Iraq had already been targeted by the PMF, writes Eduardo Vasco.
Another country has joined the war against the United States and Israel: Iraq. Not officially, of course. The Iraqi state has not declared war on anyone, nor has it signaled direct participation in the conflict that began a month ago, when Washington and Tel Aviv began cowardly attacks against Iran.
But the Iraqi state is not particularly relevant for the purposes of this article. This is because, similarly to Lebanon, Iraq has lived for more than a decade under a kind of dual power: the state, represented by its institutions controlled by the ruling classes, the national bourgeoisie, large landowners, and bureaucrats aligned with the United States; and, on the other hand, an extremely powerful popular armed organization: the Popular Mobilization Forces.
At the same time that the Iraqi army was collapsing, the Shiite militias were fundamental in resisting the American occupation and in defeating the Islamic State nearly ten years ago-just as Hezbollah was responsible for expelling the Israeli army from Lebanon in 2006. And, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, the PMF gained enormous authority due to the role they played in the war of national liberation. Unlike Hezbollah, they are a united front of various organizations, but they are also Shiite-thus representing the most oppressed masses of the country-exist thanks to the coordination carried out by General Qassem Soleimani, and are to some extent integrated into the Iraqi state apparatus-part of them are paramilitary forces that obey the armed forces, and their political organs have representation in parliament and even in ministries.
This demonstrates the power of the PMF. The state was forced to integrate them into its structure in order to control them. However, what has been happening is that they are winning the hearts and minds of the military itself, thanks to their example of selflessness in the struggle against the enemies of the Iraqi people and the Arab and Islamic peoples: imperialism and Zionism.
Since the beginning of the genocidal war in Gaza and Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, their fighters have carried out a series of military actions against targets in Israel and American military bases in Iraq and Syria. American attacks against Iraqi militias-whether from outside, violating Iraq's sovereignty, or from within, violating agreements with the government regarding troop presence-have strained relations between the Iraqi state and imperialism.
Although at first Iraqi institutions feared confronting the United States (for example, the judiciary ordered the arrest of those responsible for the attack on the Ayn al-Assad airbase in August 2024), the continuous disrespect by the U.S. toward the Iraqi people and territory forced authorities to change their position: government, parliament, and army began opposing the U.S. military presence. More than a shift in perspective, they were compelled to adopt this stance to avoid losing even more ground to the PMF, seen by the Iraqi people as the main bastion of the struggle for national sovereignty. The army, for example, could not remain passive while forces under its command were repeatedly attacked by a foreign power-the same power that invaded, destroyed, and subjugated the country for over a decade.
Thus, at the end of 2024, the Iraqi government and parliament approved the end of the international coalition imposed on Iraq by the United States under the pretext of fighting the Islamic State. Troops only left the federal unit in January 2026. Likewise, Iraq expelled the United Nations Assistance Mission, created in 2003 to help reorganize the country for imperialist exploitation.
In any case, U.S. and European imperialist troops continue to operate on Iraqi territory-at least 2,500 in the autonomous Kurdistan region-violating Iraq's integrity and sovereignty. They are expected to leave by September, and Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has indicated to the press that they should depart even sooner. His argument is that an Iraq free of foreign troops would facilitate the disarmament of resistance groups, which would no longer have reason to remain armed-a balanced position, although it reveals the discomfort of the state bureaucracy and ruling class with an armed population, yet still more measured than that of the Lebanese government, which is attempting to forcibly disarm Hezbollah while effectively handing over the country's territory to Israel. Sudani and his government have been struggling to control the PMF, even after last year's reform aimed at reducing their autonomy.
After numerous violations by U.S. armed forces and proportional retaliation by the PMF, Iraqi authorities-certainly under overwhelming popular pressure-authorized all security forces in the country, including the PMF, to "act under the principle of the right of response and self-defense" against any attacks on their positions. The authorization came immediately after a U.S. bombing killed 15 fighters, including leaders, at PMF headquarters in Anbar province. The Iraqi Joint Operations Command directly blamed the U.S. and Israel for the strike.
This marks a turning point both for the Iraqi armed resistance and for the entire regional Axis of Resistance. The Iraqi state itself was forced to recognize the authority of the PMF, which now gains significant momentum. While they can increase their popularity among the masses and among lower and mid (or even higher) ranks of the state bureaucracy, they also bind the Iraqi state to defending the country-meaning a further shift toward a position opposing the United States and Israel.
According to the pro-U.S. outlet Alhurra, sources close to Prime Minister al-Sudani said he faced "internal pressure" to approve the pro-PMF measure and that the "majority voice" within the national security council supported it.
The most reactionary regimes in the Gulf understand the situation. The Jordanian monarchy, a vassal of imperialism and Zionism and an enemy of Iran and the Arab and Islamic peoples, called on Baghdad to follow the example of Lebanon's puppet government and repudiate resistance actions. This appeal will not be heeded. It is already somewhat too late for that.
With the PMF joining the anti-imperialist war, the Axis of Resistance is significantly strengthened. In 2022, they had 230,000 members. It is very likely that this number has increased considerably. Likewise, with this endorsement from the Iraqi government, their popularity may grow even further and their ranks multiply. Thanks to Iranian support, their arsenal includes tanks, missiles, mortars, rockets, drones, and more.
The entry of the Iraqi resistance into the war also encourages other forces in the region. There are reports that Islamic resistance in Jordan has also attacked a U.S. base earlier this week, acting for the first time since the war began. Ansarallah, for its part, also officially announced its entry into the war last weekend.
What remains of the U.S. presence in Iraq had already been targeted by the PMF-for example, the Victory base in Baghdad and the Erbil airbase in Kurdistan. Even the U.S. diplomatic presence is under pressure: on the first day of the aggression, when the United States and Israel martyred Khamenei and 160 Iranian girls, a crowd attempted to storm Baghdad's Green Zone, where major government buildings and Western embassies are located. It and the Al-Rashid Hotel in that protected zone were also struck by drones. In Erbil, at least one French soldier was killed and others injured in a resistance operation against the invaders.
Some organizations within the PMF also carried out attacks against American targets in Gulf countries governed by imperialist-backed regimes. The group Saraya Awliya al-Dam, responsible for some of these attacks, warned that any additional U.S. troop deployments to the Middle East "will compel us to intensify operations against the American presence in any country."
Thanks to the PMF, imperialism was forced to end its official occupation of Iraq after years of destruction that began with the 2003 invasion. Thanks to them, the Islamic State-serving imperialist interests in the region-was defeated about ten years ago. Thanks to them, the Iraqi government imposed a withdrawal of U.S. and allied troops at the end of last year. And now, thanks to them, what remains of the imperialist presence in Iraq may be nearing its end.
This is a great service to the Iraqi people and to all peoples of the Middle East, as each American base destroyed or closed is a blow against imperialist presence in the region-a blow against the subjugation of those peoples. It is another step toward the definitive liberation of the Arab and Islamic peoples.