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1 1 (August 2018)

handle is hein.amenin/aeiaawc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Key Points * Qais al-Khazali, a violent terrorist responsible for the deaths of numerous Americans, is gaining a key role in Iraqi politics and commands 15 seats in the Council of Representatives after Iraq's fraudulent elections. * Khazali represents everything the Iraqi people have repeatedly rejected: violence, sec- tarianism, corruption, and Iranian influence. * His increasing prominence is symptomatic of the larger, ongoing problems of Iraq. You may have never heard of Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH), also known as the Khazali network, or its leader, Qais al-Khazali. But if you want to understand what is wrong with Iraq, you need to know them both. Khazali and AAH are among the purest symbols of what ails Iraq. And yet, their power continues to grow. Specifically, AAH is an Iraqi Shi'a paramilitary organization funded by the Iranian Quds force that is connected to the infamous special groups re- sponsible for over 6,ooo attacks on US and coalition forces.' While AAH is considered a terrorist group and a part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, their reach is now extending beyond just the battlefield.2 In 2017, they created a political arm of the same name, looking to extend their malign influence into Iraqi politics.3 Two recent events are shining a spotlight on AAH, and what happens as a result will tell us much about Iraq's future. In the compromised May 12 elections, AAH won i seats in the Iraqi parliament, almost entirely by fraud. It will likely end up with one or more ministries as a reward for its crimes. Moreover, some of its misdeeds are on clearer display than ever, thanks to the release of previously classified interrogation reports from Khazali him- self after he was captured by the US-led coalition in Iraq in 20o7. These reports, now available on the AEI website,4 provide considerable new details about Khazali's character, activities, and ties to Iran, as well as the wider network of Iranian-supported Iraqi terrorists and criminals. It is an unsettling view of a man who might soon be a member of the Iraqi cabinet. Born in Blood This is not the place for a full biography of Khazali or AAH, but a little history is useful. After the United States toppled Saddam Hussein, Khazali quickly took up with Muqtada as-Sadr. While most Iraqi Shi'a welcomed Saddam's fall and warily tried to help the Americans turn Iraq into the prosperous democracy that Washington claimed to want to build, Khazali threw in with the one Shi'a leader who was preach- ing violent opposition to everything. In April 2004, Sadr's Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) militia tried to seize control of Najaf, Karbala, Sadr City, and other major Shi'a cities in southern Iraq. The AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

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