IRAQ, Land of Factions

Exactly ten years ago, as Mosul was falling to Islamic State (IS) insurgents, the creation of dozens of factions in Iraq was seen as a reasonable solution for supervising the Shia youth who had risen en masse to fight IS and Sunni jihadism and protect their threatened country. The paramilitary Al-Ḥashd ash-Shaʿbī, or Popular Mobilization Forces, which were set up to coordinate them, were originally intended to be provisional. In fact, no one has ever managed to demobilize them, and they have been leading Iraq into ever greater instability. The film will delve into this network of factions (many of which are supported by Iran) that has turned the national government into little more than a hollow shell, and will show how some of them could lead the country and the entire region back into war…