Who funds Iraqi Shia militias? And what about the Christian militias? Oh…right…

Precisely where did the sectarian militias that caused the worst violence in pre-surge Iraq get their money?  And where do those militias continue to receive their funding today?  Lt. Gen. Jacoby has an answer in a recent article from Agence France Presse with the headline, “US commander says Iran still arming Iraq militias”:

BAGHDAD — The number two US commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General Charles Jacoby, charged on Thursday that neighbouring Iran was still providing weapons and funds to militia groups undermining stability.

“Iran still smuggles equipment and aid to terrorists across the border,” the general said.

“I find Iranian influence in Iraq unhelpful across all domains — political, military, economic,” he added.

“The Iranians also continue to train special group leaders and provide them opportunities to come back to Iraq.”

Special groups is the term US commanders use to refer to Shiite militia factions that have refused to join the political mainstream and which they hold responsible for many of the reprisal killings carried out during the sectarian bloodshed of 2006 and 2007.

That “sectarian bloodshed” resulted in the deaths of Sunnis, American servicemen, other Shias, and Arab Christians.

Christians in the Middle East, it turns out, are a dying breed.  As we near Christmas, the London Telegraph provides a poignant account of Christian populations withering on the vine in that part of the world.  Suffering under the boot well-funded Muslim militants, Christians are also dwindling through emigration and low birth rates.

The Telegraph article provides a striking contrast to AFP’s account of Shia-funded militias, because, as Father Remon Moussalli, a Chaldean priest in Amman, notes, “The Christians are like the peaceful Muslims, but there are no Christian militias to protect them.”