Within days of its September 25 referendum on independence, much of Kurdistan was overrun by the Iraqi army and a collection of mostly Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). Although sporadic fighting has continued since then, recently the army and the PMUs have gained control of the Nineveh Plains, an area that Kurdish leaders hope will be part of their independent state and that is the heartland of Iraq’s Christian population. A group called the Babylon Brigade has played a key role in subduing the area—and this, Yousif Kalian explains, should worry Washington:
Although it is currently led by the Christian quasi-celebrity Rayan al-Kildany, a former affiliate of the Mahdi Army [the Shiite group that fought against the U.S. from 2003 to 2008], the Babylon Brigade is composed mostly of Shiite Arabs and [members of an Iraqi ethnoreligious minority] not native to the area, and is supported by the Iran-backed Badr Organization. . . .
The PMU touts Kildani as an example of its diversity and of the willingness among Shiites to include Christians in the country’s post-Islamic State makeup. However, for many Christians, the pictures of Kildani on social media receiving the eucharist or praying in a church are disingenuous attempts to highlight his Christian heritage and therefore his legitimacy as a Christian leader. . . .
Kildani has reportedly hosted the leading Iranian general Qassem Soleimani [and has] photographed himself with . . . the U.S.-designated terrorists Abu Mehdi al-Muhandis of Kataib Hizballah and Qais Khazali of the League of the Righteous. . . Using its “Christian” identity as a pretext, Iranian leaders have been able to use the Babylon Brigade to guarantee that they will have a say in northern Iraq. . . .
Both American and Iraqi leaders would be wise to slow the growing Iranian expansion on the Nineveh Plains. . . . [The U.S. and Iraq] can work to ensure that only federal forces and local militias . . . remain on the ground. Another useful measure would be the establishment of a joint training and operations center along with a new, unified local force composed of the existing local militias. This would ensure that non-local forces that have caused trouble and are . . . beholden to Iran, like the Babylon Brigade, are pulled out of the Nineveh Plains.
Read more on American Interest: https://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/12/21/irans-inroads-christian-iraq/