2024-05-07 09:38:30
Several countries in the Middle East are suffering from a militia crisis, as more than a quarter of the 400 million people in Arab countries live “in a state that is too weak to curb armed groups,” according to a report by The Economist magazine.
The British magazine pointed out Hezbollah in Lebanon, which the state cannot control, while in Yemen there are the Houthis, a Shiite faction that controls the most densely populated areas.
In addition to armed groups in Libya and Syria, Iraq also has a “constellation” of armed militias.
What makes Middle Eastern militias “distinctive” is their coexistence with the countries to which they belong, as many armed groups control vast economic empires, according to the report.
In theory, Hezbollah is like any other political party in Lebanon’s sectarian quota system: its members sit in parliament and run ministries, and it is also the only party better equipped than the army, with the ability to decide whether to drag the country into a foreign war.
There are many violent and corrupt rebel groups around the world, but few control 12 percent of the seats in parliament and run the Ministry of Labor, as Hezbollah does in Lebanon.
The British magazine’s report attributed the secret of the spread of armed militias in the Middle East to the weakness of the countries of the region, as these groups derive their strength from popular anger.
Many Iraqi militias emerged in the first decade of the twenty-first century, fighting against US forces after the intervention in 2003 to topple Saddam’s regime.
These armed groups strengthened their role in 2014 in the conflict against ISIS, when the Iraqi army fled and surrendered to the forces of the terrorist organization in Mosul.
In Syria, the Assad regime controlled the country for decades before the popular uprising in 2011 turned into a civil war. The Syrian army needed help from several militias to crush the rebellion.
The Houthis have been waging a long-standing rebellion in northern Yemen, the poorest region in the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula.
In 2014, amid the chaos that followed the revolution, the Houthis swept through the south and seized the capital, Sanaa, and other major cities.
As rebels, the Houthis attacked official corruption in power after seizing power a year ago. Those in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria followed a different scenario: instead of seizing control of the government, they sought to co-opt it.
Hezbollah distributes contracts across ministries, hires supporters for civil service jobs, and steals money from customs.
Most Lebanese parties do the same thing, but Hezbollah also controls Lebanon’s land borders with Syria, which other parties do not do.
Iran was behind most of these armed militias, as it supported not only Hezbollah, but also groups in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, while other donors carry out this mission in Libya.
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2024-05-07 09:38:30