THE SHIITE JIHAD IN SYRIA AND ITS REGIONAL EFFECTS

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Policy Recommendations
AS THE UNITED STATES continues its campaign against ISIS forces in Syria
while simultaneously opposing Bashar al-Assad and his supporters, the presence
of Iran-backed Shiite militias, along with the influence of their Iranian
handlers, will keep growing.
Since the conflict in Iraq and Syria has expanded into a full-scale
regional war, many Shiite militias are quickly adopting a role as the Iraqi
rump state’s main fighting force against ISIS and other Sunni elements.
The rise to interior minister of the Badr Organization’s Mohammed al-
Ghabban shows just how doggedly Iran is working, through both armed
and democratic methods, to thwart U.S. efforts within Iraq. 297 Through the
use of Iran’s Iraqi Shiite proxy militias such as the Badr Organization, U.S.
efforts to push Baghdad to be more inclusive to Sunnis have been significantly
crippled. 298 More specifically, Ghabban’s appointment will likely further
harm efforts to cultivate a National Guard type of anti-ISIS fighting
group among Iraqi Sunnis. 299
These militias’ continued development and deployment, particularly in
Iraq and Syria, threaten the United States in another way. Their unchecked
proliferation is viewed by Washington’s Sunni Arab regional allies as de
facto acceptance of Iran’s own sectarian regional goals. 300 One of these goals
has been the virtual Hezbollahzation of militias now taking up many combat
roles against ISIS. By late 2014, around fifty Shiite militias had been
announced, either emerging as popular committees or as more dedicated
organizations. Many of these groups have been crafted as Iraq-based near
duplicates of Hezbollah. 301 Of further concern is how the activities and
growth of numerous Shiite militias assist in the hypersectarianization and
radicalization of regional conflicts. A number of these organizations were
actively engaged in a campaign of sectarian attacks and ethnic cleansings
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