US views PMU resistance fighters as obstacle to its objectives in Iraq: Politician

A senior Iraqi politician has exposed the sinister motives behind US envoy Tom Barrack’s recent visit to Baghdad and his bids against the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), stating that Washington wants to eliminate the resistance fighters because it views them as an obstacle to the advancement of its destabilizing schemes.

Ali al-Zubaidi, a member of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of Shia political parties which is Iraq’s largest parliamentary bloc, said on Sunday that Barrack’s visit to Iraq falls within the framework of an American-Israeli project based on weakening the role of the PMU in the country’s security institutions because the United States does not want such forces to be present in the security domain.

The Iraqi politician further said, “The Popular Mobilization Units are a security apparatus, which operates within the framework of the government and has made great sacrifices in the fight against terrorism. Therefore, all attempts to disband or weaken them are doomed to failure.”

Earlier, Iraqi political analyst Atheer al-Sharaa said that US President Donald Trump, through imposition of his diktats to serve the American project, is seeking to turn Baghdad into a gateway for the so-called new Middle East project.

The appointment of Barrack as the US special presidential envoy for Iraq and Syria comes despite the fact that Washington has not appointed a new ambassador to Baghdad for more than a year.

Some Iraqi media outlets have asserted that 79-year-old Barrack, a longtime Trump ally, intends to weaken Iraqi resistance groups in his new post.

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Iraq

The US embassy in Baghdad, which is the largest diplomatic mission compound in the world, has been without an ambassador for the past 18 months.

Since the end of the mission of former US Ambassador Alina Romanowsky in Baghdad in late December 2024, Washington has not named a successor, and the diplomatic mission in the so-called Green Zone district of central Baghdad is run by a chargé d’affaires.

PMU fighters played a major role in the liberation of Daesh-held areas across Iraq.

In November 2016, the Iraqi parliament approved a law giving full legal status to the PMU fighters. It recognized the PMU as part of the national armed forces, placed the forces under the command of the prime minister, and granted them the right to receive salaries and pensions like the regular army and police forces.

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