THE SHIITE JIHAD IN SYRIA AND ITS REGIONAL EFFECTS

2 n THE SHIITE JIHAD IN SYRIA
suggests Iran is continuing efforts to expand its regional network of Shiite
militia-type organizations following the model established with Lebanese
Hezbollah. The fighting has also allowed Tehran to spread the state’s radical
ideology more intensively, with the presence of Shiite militants of many
nationalities fighting in Syria demonstrating Iran’s power projection in Shiite
communities worldwide.
This Shiite jihad engineered by Iran has not stopped in Syria. When the
Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) made its startling gains in Iraq
earlier this year, many Shiite veterans of the war in Syria redeployed to
Iraq. Fighting has also spilled over into Lebanon, with Hezbollah clashing
against Sunni rebel and jihadist forces, including those of Jabhat al-
Nusra and ISIS. In Iraq, many fighters have even traded in their fatigues
for tailored suits, using their wartime experience in Syria to campaign for
parliamentary positions.
The development of Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq has been complex,
obscure, and hardly linear. The subject matter can therefore be more easily
assessed through an emphasis on the main elements of the respective militias’
development, along with their commanders and governing ideological
narratives. This approach also reveals the interconnectedness of groups, fighters,
and leadership networks, along with the means by which new groups are
spawned, including their specific functions. Recruitment techniques, ranging
from tents set up on Shiite pilgrimage routes to advanced Internet and
social media methods, further help clarify the Shiite militias’ role in the conflict,
as do disagreements among Shiite clerics over the war and details on
equipment and training.
Indeed, in a wider political sense, the real victor of the Syrian war and in
Iraq has been Iran, a triumph for which the Islamic Republic has its militia
forces to thank.