The militias across the region have turned into factories manufacturing new militias. It is a profession for those without one.
These militias were initially combat or security brigades and evolved to become special operations groups or armed factions with structures similar to those of gangs. They are often tasked with providing security for vital facilities or highly-placed individuals in charge of sensitive dossiers. Indeed, it is commonplace for unstable regimes, quasi-failed states, and corrupt governments to solicit the services of armed militias to carry out unlawful operations and provide what security they can to state facilities.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spearheaded the militias operations in Syria during the war, including those of prominent factions like Jaysh al-Mahdi, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Saraya al-Khorasani, Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataeb Imam Ali, Iraqi Hezbollah, and Al-Zainabiyoun. In turn, each of these factions branched out into dozens of factions that operate on Iraqi and Syrian territory, along the Iraqi-Iranian border, and on oil rigs on the waters of the Gulf and Basra.
Before he was assassinated by the United States, Qassem Soleimani had been working on developing and structuring Iraq’s so-called Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). The PMF is better armed than Russia’s Wagner Group, but it is also less experienced, disciplined, and well-trained. Some reports suggest that the man in charge of the PMF had intended to bring it under the government’s control, whereby it would determine the tasks of the PMF and where PMF forces were deployed.
The so-called Coordination Framework - an organization loyal to Iran - sought to increase the number of PMF forces to 238,000, which would mean a 95 percent increase in the number of militias funded by the state.
Before we heard about the Wagner Group, there was Blackwater - a notorious militia affiliated with the US military. It played a destructive role in Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 US invasion. Established in 1997 by businessman and former US Navy officer Erik Prince, Blackwater initially provided private security and training services. However, it gained its notoriety for the crimes it committed against Iraqi civilians, including the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians, including two children, in 2007.
Life or 30-year prison sentences were handed to four of the mercenaries implicated in this massacre. However, former US President Donald Trump pardoned them, infuriating the Iraqi people. Consequently, the company was forced to change its name to “Academi.” This is a multinational group that includes forces from Colombia, South Africa, Mexico, Panama, El Salvador, Chile, and other countries.
As for the Russian Wagner business, it initially took the guise, in 2018, of a gold exploration company operating in Sudan. It has come up frequently during the ongoing civil war in Sudan. Its operatives across Africa provide support and security services to Russian mining companies and their associates. Russia has been accused of using Wagner to take control of natural resources in Africa and fill the void left by the departure of the European colonialists who had been in the continent since the 18th Century. And Wagner does indeed seek to influence the politics and personal conflicts of countries like Libya, Sudan, Mali, and Madagascar.
These transnational militias have become “mercenary armies.” They are like the local militias in Iraq, which are knee-deep in the swamp of corruption, money laundering, and drug trafficking there. PMF militias have also assassinated many patriotic activists for their rejection of Iranian hegemony over Iraq’s institutions.
If you look into Lebanon’s political history between the 1950s and 1980s, you will not find terrorist groups or militias like Hezbollah, which has morphed into a state within a state.
A strong state does not rely on militias. Rather, it seeks political solutions, stability, development projects, and prosperity. This is the course taken by Mahathir Mohamad, the renowned Prime Minister of Malaysia, and Lee Kuan Yew, who was the prime minister of Singapore for three decades. Under Lee, Singapore went from being a modest port to a country brimming with lights, towering cranes, massive cargo ships, and an extremely busy airport. Indeed, the airport is so active that passenger flights circle its airspace for over an hour before finding a safe landing spot.
The founder of modern Singapore believed that a dignified leader must rule with an iron fist. He famously said: “Why don’t we crush opposition before it begins? Once it emerges, it will become very hard for us to crush it.”
In summary, militias do not build nations or civilizations, nor do they allow for fair and equitable relations with other countries. Indeed, what they do is aggravate state corruption, assassinate and terrorize rivals, and undermine efforts to foster citizenship and national civic identity.
