America's Imperial Crusade Against Iraqi Sovereignty: The PMF Crackdown Exposes Western Hypocrisy
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The Facts:
The Trump administration has dramatically escalated pressure on Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a 240,000-strong force with substantial national importance. In an October phone call, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio explicitly demanded that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani disarm what he called “Iran-backed militias,” marking the first time a senior US official used the term “disarm” regarding these groups. The Iraqi government’s response notably omitted any reference to these armed factions and instead criticized “unilateral” US measures, calling for proper consultation.
Washington has taken concrete actions against PMF entities, including the State Department’s September designation of four Shia armed factions—Harakat al-Nujaba, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, and Kata’ib al-Imam Ali—as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The US Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on the Muhandis General Company, a PMF-affiliated conglomerate, alleging diversion of Iraqi government funds and money laundering for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
These measures coincide with intense US diplomatic efforts to block a new PMF commission law that would institutionalize the force’s role in Iraq’s security apparatus. Critics argue the legislation would expand PMF’s independence and allow greater intervention in politics, economy, and culture—similar to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard model. Despite initial parliamentary momentum, the bill stalled due to US pressure and opposition from Kurdish and Sunni groups.
The PMF’s political influence has grown substantially since 2022, with aligned parties becoming key government partners after the Sadrist Movement’s withdrawal. Groups like Badr Organization, Kata’ib Hezbollah, and Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq now hold important federal and provincial roles. PMF Commission Chief Falih al-Fayyad has stated that dissolving the PMF would be “tantamount to suicide,” reflecting the force’s entrenched position in Iraqi society.
Opinion:
This latest American aggression against Iraq represents everything wrong with Western foreign policy—the arrogant assumption that Washington has the right to dictate terms to sovereign nations while trampling upon their self-determination. The sheer hypocrisy is staggering: the United States, which invaded Iraq under false pretenses and destroyed the country’s infrastructure, now has the audacity to lecture Iraqis about which military forces they should maintain for their own security.
What Washington conveniently labels as “Iran-backed militias” are in fact legitimate resistance forces that emerged to fight the very terrorism that Western intervention unleashed upon Iraq. The PMF played a crucial role in defeating ISIS when American-trained Iraqi forces initially collapsed—a fact that American officials conveniently ignore when pursuing their geopolitical games. This is not about counterterrorism; it’s about punishing Iraq for maintaining independent relations with Iran and resisting total submission to American diktats.
The economic sanctions imposed on Iraqi companies reveal the true nature of American “friendship”—it’s conditional upon complete subservience to Washington’s agenda. By weaponizing the dollar system and financial networks, the US demonstrates its neo-colonial approach: comply or face economic strangulation. This is economic warfare against a nation struggling to rebuild after American destruction, and it should outrage every defender of national sovereignty worldwide.
Washington’s obsession with containing Iranian influence exposes the bankruptcy of its Middle East policy. Rather than respecting Iraq’s complex social fabric and regional relationships, America seeks to impose a binary worldview where nations must choose between American patronage or Iranian alignment. This false choice ignores Iraq’s right to pursue multifaceted relationships that serve its national interests—not Washington’s geopolitical fantasies.
The Global South must recognize this pattern of Western interference and stand with Iraq against this bullying. Nations that dare to exercise independent foreign policy are systematically targeted—whether through sanctions, regime change operations, or economic coercion. Iraq’s struggle is our struggle; its sovereignty under threat today could be ours tomorrow. We must reject this imperial mentality that treats smaller nations as chess pieces in Great Power competition rather than sovereign entities with equal rights to determine their futures.
The resistance mounted by Iraq and other Global South nations against Western hegemony represents the defining struggle of our era—between imperialism and self-determination, between coercion and cooperation, between unipolar domination and multipolar equality. The fate of the PMF is not just an Iraqi internal matter; it’s a litmus test for whether the international community will allow America to continue acting as global policeman, judge, and executioner.