Iraq’s PMF law returns to parliament in the week the Americans finished leaving

The US military announced on Wednesday 30 September that it had completed the withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq, ending a 12-year mission against the Islamic State and, by AP’s count from Baghdad, 23 years of American military presence in various forms. Al Jazeera reported the final departure was from Erbil Air Base, with equipment taken out, and ABC in Australia framed the exit as “sparking Kurdish defence concerns.” The day before, Iraq’s Council of Ministers, in its 21st regular session, voted to approve a draft law governing the Popular Mobilisation Forces and refer it to parliament, along with a bill on the health-care department for the Internal Security Forces. The Arabic government statement carried by Shafaqna frames the PMF bill narrowly: tanẓīm al-iṭār al-idārī — organising the administrative framework of the security institutions — and recognising the sacrifices of PMF members. Not command. Not weapons.

What is actually before the legislature is less clear than the cabinet vote suggests. Shafaq News reported, on unnamed sources, that several contentious provisions — ones its sources described as facing a “US veto” — were removed before referral; that is a characterisation by anonymous sources, not an established fact. On Saturday 3 October, Shafaqna quoted Mazen Gharib of the parliamentary Security and Defence Committee saying the bill is expected to reach parliament “in the coming days” and that the parties may yet agree if some points are amended. The same piece refers to an 18-article text. The last attempt at this law, in early 2025, collapsed over provisions retiring more than 3,500 PMF commanders including chairman Faleh al-Fayyad, and was deferred to the parliamentary term now sitting. Parliament has published an agenda for Monday’s session.

Assessment: The sequencing is the argument, and it is The National’s editorial judgement rather than a sourced claim: the bill moves in the week the Americans leave. Read the gap between cabinet and chamber carefully. A referral that a Security and Defence Committee member describes on Saturday as still pending “in the coming days” is either stuck in transit or being held for a negotiated moment; both readings imply the text is not finished. Distrust the “US veto” formulation most of all — it is doing two jobs at once, reassuring Washington that the dangerous clauses are gone and telling a domestic audience that Baghdad bargained. Watch Monday’s agenda, and watch whether 18 articles survive contact with the floor.