A draft US defense budget for 2026 set to be mulled by Congress will for the first time condition aid for the Iraqi military on verifiable steps to rein in militias backed by Washington's Mideast arch-nemesis Tehran.
The over 3,000-page $900 billion plus National Defense Authorization Act outlines US military priorities around the globe. A compromise version of the proposed legislation emerged on Sunday.
It contains provisions to repeal the 1991 and 2002 Authorizations for Use of Military Force (AUMFs) against Iraq passed by Congress to confront US foe Saddam Hussein, in a win for the legislative branch's powers to declare war which remain a flashpoint.
According to the text, no more than half of the funds allocated for Iraq's military can be delivered until the Secretary of Defense submits to Congress a verification that Baghdad has implemented "credible steps" to rein in Tehran-backed militias.
These include steps "to reduce the operational capacity of Iran-aligned militia groups not integrated into the Iraqi Security Forces," moves to strengthen the authority of the Iraqi Prime Minister as commander in chief of the security forces.
It further requires Iraq to "investigate and hold accountable members of militias or members of security forces operating outside the formal chain of command who engage in attacks on United States or Iraqi personnel or otherwise act in an illegal or destabilizing manner."
The NDAA allows for a waiver of 180 days if the Secretary of Defense invokes national security reasons.
Recent elections
Emerging from years of civil war which followed a US invasion in 2003, Baghdad is caught between the competing influence of Tehran and Washington.
Tehran-aligned groups such as the Popular Mobilization Forces and Kata’ib Hezbollah fielded candidates in parliamentary polls last month, rebranding themselves as civilian organizations even as their armed presence persists.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who has plied a middle course between the two foreign rivals vying over the future of the war-battered Arab nation, looks set to stay in office after months of bargaining wraps up.
He has taken few steps to defang the armed groups even as overall security nationwide has improved, earning criticism from hawks in Washington.
'Make Iraq Great Again'
"It does not matter who wins elections or forms a government, as the entire country is deeply infiltrated by Iran," Republican Congressman Joe Wilson said on Tuesday.
"Congress will not continue to issue blank checks forever," he added in the post on X. Baghdad, he said, "should take sovereign decisions on behalf of their own people rather than obeying the dictates of Iran and its puppet militias and kleptocrats."
The administration of US President Donald Trump has stepped up sanctions on Iraqi people and entities it accuses of helping enrich Tehran, and his special envoy to Baghdad Mark Savaya has vowed to "Make Iraq Great Again."
Hamstrung by US and international sanctions, Iran shares long historical and religious ties with parts of Iraq and views it as a valuable conduit for conducting international business.
Tehran armed and funded the militias which helped the country defeat Islamic State militants but which lingered after their defeat and continue to exert a strong influence over the security forces and government.
