Iraq: 450,000 have fled al-Anbar as Gov’t Deploys Militias against al-Qaeda

http://www.juancole.com/2014/06/province-militias-against.html

Euronews reports: “Security slips further in Iraq as car bombs hit Baghdad”

Iraq: 450,000 have fled al-Anbar as Gov’t Deploys Militias against al-Qaeda
By contributors | Jun. 9, 2014



Members of an extremist Shiite Muslim militia have been recruited to fight Sunni Muslim rebels and militias in Iraq’s Anbar province. But for some Baghdad-based fighters the battle is taking place too close to home: They’re being forced to fight friends and family.

Like many other young men who live in the low-income Sadr city district of Baghdad, Sijad Abdul-Haq couldn’t find a job. So he went on the payroll of a mainly Shiite Muslim religious militia known as the League of Righteous.

The League is designated a terrorist organisation internationally and it remains one of the most feared extremist groups in Iraq; even noteworthy Iraqis, like Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, as described the league as criminals and murderers.

And in recent months, the League has been recruiting new members – particularly among poor and unemployed Shiite Muslim men – simply by offering them a decent monthly wage. It’s a form of social welfare but one that comes at a cost, as has been previously reported by NIQASH.