This is Awkward
From the Washington Post.
BAGHDAD — Iraqi militia forces that have led the fight against Islamic State militants in Tikrit balked at U.S. intervention Thursday, saying that although most would remain in their positions, they will refuse to proceed with an offensive on the city.
One Shiite militia, Kitaeb Hezbollah, which is designated by the United States as a terrorist organization, said it would go as far as shooting down any plane belonging to the U.S.-led coalition in the area.
Another militia announced that it intends to withdraw.
The opening of the U.S. airstrikes in Tikrit on Wednesday drew Washington into a battle that has pitted the militants against Iraqi forces dominated by Iranian-backed militias, many of which are hostile to the United States.
An estimated 20,000 ground troops involved in the Tikrit offensive belong to what are known as “popular mobilization units” — an affiliation of Shiite volunteer fighters that formed after a call to arms from Iraq’s leading Shiite cleric but which has also become an umbrella for Shiite militia groups.
Although the United States wants Shiite militias off the battlefield, Iraqi officials have indicated that they plan for at least part of the popular mobilizations to be included in a new offensive for the city. That sets Haider al-Abadi’s government up for a potentially embarrassing public power struggle. Although the Iraqi government claims to control the mobilization units, militia leaders say the units follow their command.
If the freeze stands, it will mean that official Iraqi security forces, which have so far played a limited role in the fight, will be left to clear Tikrit alone.
The fight for Tikrit is considered a crucial test in the wider fight to drive the Islamic State from strongholds in northern Iraq, including Mosul, which has been the symbol and center of Islamic State power in Iraq since the militants took it last summer.
“All the popular mobilization will refuse to fight until the American airstrikes stop,” said Moeen al-Khadami, head of the popular mobilization committee on Baghdad’s provincial council. “Let them try to do it without us. America is just trying to steal our victory.”