Iraq just ordered a probe into its own militias trampling the US flag
1 hour ago · 4 October 2026Share
Iraqi security forces passed for review before those representing Iraqi military and civil leadership in Baghdad during a June 30, 2009 parade. File photo. Tommy Avilucea, U.S. Air Force · Public domain
Iraq's Prime Minister just ordered an investigation into his own country's militias.
So here's what happened. Iranian-backed fighters were filmed driving military vehicles over the American flag during parades in Baghdad.
The parades were marking something huge. US troops had just finished a full withdrawal from Iraq, ending 12 years of war against ISIS.
Ali Al Zaidi, Iraq's Prime Minister, ordered a committee to find out exactly what happened. His military spokesperson, Sabah Al Numan, announced it earlier today.
Now, when exactly this happened is actually unclear. The National says it was two to three days ago. The New Region, which is Rudaw's English service, puts it a day earlier, and its own photo of the event is dated 1 October. Nobody has settled which is right.
What is clear is what was filmed. Military vehicles drove over American and Israeli flags during a funeral procession for people killed in US and Israeli attacks on Iraq.
And there was more on display. Flags for Lebanon's Hezbollah. The flag of Iran. Pictures of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
So who was marching? The Popular Mobilisation Forces, known as the PMF. It's an umbrella group of mostly Shiite paramilitary forces. Many of them have close ties to Iran.
Here's an odd detail. The footage spread on Telegram and through AFP. But neither The New Region nor the Jerusalem Post could find the US flag footage on the PMF's own official channels. The PMF did post pictures of the Israeli flag being trampled, just not the American one.
Sabah Al Numan put out a statement on behalf of the Prime Minister. It condemns the act, calls for adherence to diplomatic laws and customs, and directs legal measures against those responsible.
And think about what that actually is. Iraq's own Prime Minister, publicly condemning a force that is supposed to answer to his own government.
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An aerial view of a district of Baghdad, Iraq during a U.S. military operation in October 2008. File photo. Staff Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez · Public domain
Now here's the backdrop. Iraq declared a four-day holiday for the withdrawal, called Sovereignty Days, running from 30 September to 3 October. Al Zaidi used it to declare full sovereignty after 12 years of US-led operations.
He made three promises. Disarm groups outside state control. Ban cross-border attacks launched from Iraqi soil. Buy a full air defence system.
But here's the problem. The deadline for bringing every militia's weapons under state control has already been pushed back once, from 30 September 2026 to June 2027. And several militias, including Kataib Hezbollah, have said flat out they will not disarm.
So think about what this parade actually showed. It was supposed to prove Iraq taking back control. Instead it showed a state-funded force marching through the capital carrying a foreign leader's picture, and driving over the flag of the country that had just left.
Joe Wilson, a Republican congressman in the US, posted on X. He says quote "praising the murderous regime in Iran." He also asked Al Zaidi directly if this was what he thought of America, and called for Iraq to be freed from Iran.
That's a sitting member of the US Congress treating this as proof Iraq doesn't fully control its own territory.
Victoria Taylor runs the Iraq Initiative at the Atlantic Council. She used to be a US deputy assistant secretary for Iraq and Iran. She says she expected something like this, and that she winced watching the Sovereignty Days celebrations.
And there's a wider strategy here. Al Zaidi has told the United Nations his government is shifting its relationship with coalition partners from military cooperation to economic and development cooperation. Douglas Silliman, a former US ambassador to Iraq and Kuwait, says the withdrawal is part of a deliberate plan by Al Zaidi to weaken Iran-linked militias politically.
So what don't we know? Nobody has heard from the PMF. Nobody has heard from Iran's government. Nobody has heard from the US State Department either.
So here's where this leaves Iraq's Prime Minister. He has ordered an inquiry into forces that are, officially, part of his own state's security structure. On a holiday built to mark the country standing on its own.
Whether that inquiry means anything is the question nobody has answered yet.
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