Iraqi Shiite Militia Leader Aws Al-Khafaji: U.S. Warships off Yemen Are under Threat; PMU Has Signed ISIS Death Certificate

In response to U.S. President Trump's entry ban, Iraqi Shi'ite militia leader Aws Al-Khafaji, Secretary-General of the Abu Al-Fadhl Al-Abbas Brigades said: "The resistance is coming... Your warships on the coasts of Yemen are under threat." He further said: "Iraq has been liberated in its entirety, and ([SIS] is drawing its last breath... The death certificate of ISIS has been signed by the PMU. ISIS will meet its end this spring." Two interviews with Al-Khafaji aired on the Yemeni Al-Masirah TV channel on February 3 and 10.

Program host: "Some try to present the victories that are due to the Iraqi armed forced and the PMU as if they were achieved through the support of the international coalition."

Aws Al-Khafaji: "We will not let anyone reap the harvest of our victories, or claim that he played a role in it in any way. Who are we to deny it, when even Trump declares that ISIS was created by the previous U.S. administration, and that Hillary Clinton bears direct responsibility for the presence of ISIS in the region? Our victories are completely Iraqi. The commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Dr. Haider Al-Abadi, repeatedly stated that there are no soldiers or others fighting alongside the Iraqi armed forces in Iraq. The Iraqi armed forces alone liberated all the areas.

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"We can say that the PMU is the only military force in the region that was not produced by America, and was born out of necessity, not out of ideology. Our experience has shown that the PMU can be a great power, which could be reproduced throughout the region, in order to restore Arab honor and bring dignity and pride back to the region. The PMU has been a success story, and it could be duplicated in many of the region's countries, which want to be liberated from American hegemony."

Host: "The problem is that the anti-PMU media, which is very active these days, opposes PMU involvement in the fight against ISIS – even though the PMU is Iraqi – while at the same time asking America, France, and Britain to come here, thus legitimizing foreign presence in Iraq."

Aws Al-Khafaji: "This has become a well-known ploy of some media outlets, and, I'm sad to say, of some hostile neighboring countries, which try to depict the Israeli-Zionist entity as if it is not and enemy, and the Iraqi people as if it is the real enemy. We haven't heard a single word denouncing what ISIS is doing in Iraq, or a single public condemnation of the imprisonments, burnings, and killings. But as soon as the Iraqi people set out to liberate their lands, we begin to hear voices that either try to fabricate a sectarian problem, or to paint a rosy picture of Israel. They try to divert attention away from the common enemy of the region, the plundering Zionist entity, and replace it with an imaginary enemy called sectarianism."

Aws Al-Khafaji, in clip: "We say to the [Islamic] nation and to the world in its entirety: This is the resistance, and its leaders are sitting here. Let Trump prevent people from Arab and Islamic countries form entering the U.S. He is afraid of the people like us entering the U.S. We say to him: We are coming, the resistance is coming, along with our victories in Aleppo, which symbolize the victory of the Arab and Islamic nation. Your warships on the coasts of Yemen are under threat. You can prevent [entry] to your heart's desire. Our Iraq has gained victory. Iraq has been liberated in its entirety and [ISIS] is drawing its last breath. I hereby inform you that the death certificate of ISIS has been signed by the PMU. ISIS will meet its end this spring."