Iraqi militias explain why they fight ISIL: it's not to please the West

By Paul McGeough
Updated October 22 2014 - 6:18am, first published October 21 2014 - 5:19pm
'We have enough manpower': Sheikh Adnan al-Shahmani, MP and militia leader, at his home in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have enough manpower': Sheikh Adnan al-Shahmani, MP and militia leader, at his home in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have a creed': Imam Ali Brigade fighters take their evening meal together. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have a creed': Imam Ali Brigade fighters take their evening meal together. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Defending Iraq: A fighter with the Shiite Imam Ali Brigade guards its headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Defending Iraq: A fighter with the Shiite Imam Ali Brigade guards its headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Volunteer fighter Ismail Abdul Hassan, 17, recovers in Baghdad's al-Wasiti hospital after being wounded by an improvised explosive device while patrolling Baghdad's hinterland. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Volunteer fighter Ismail Abdul Hassan, 17, recovers in Baghdad's al-Wasiti hospital after being wounded by an improvised explosive device while patrolling Baghdad's hinterland. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Don't call them militias: Haji Jaafar al-Bindawi (centre) with his men at the Imam Ali Brigade's headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Don't call them militias: Haji Jaafar al-Bindawi (centre) with his men at the Imam Ali Brigade's headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have enough manpower': Sheikh Adnan al-Shahmani, MP and militia leader, at his home in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have enough manpower': Sheikh Adnan al-Shahmani, MP and militia leader, at his home in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have a creed': Imam Ali Brigade fighters take their evening meal together. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have a creed': Imam Ali Brigade fighters take their evening meal together. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Defending Iraq: A fighter with the Shiite Imam Ali Brigade guards its headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Defending Iraq: A fighter with the Shiite Imam Ali Brigade guards its headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Defending Iraq: A fighter with the Shiite Imam Ali Brigade guards its headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Defending Iraq: A fighter with the Shiite Imam Ali Brigade guards its headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have a creed': Imam Ali Brigade fighters take their evening meal together. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have a creed': Imam Ali Brigade fighters take their evening meal together. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Don't call them militias: Haji Jaafar al-Bindawi (centre) with his men at the Imam Ali Brigade's headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Don't call them militias: Haji Jaafar al-Bindawi (centre) with his men at the Imam Ali Brigade's headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have enough manpower': Sheikh Adnan al-Shahmani, MP and militia leader, at his home in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have enough manpower': Sheikh Adnan al-Shahmani, MP and militia leader, at his home in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Volunteer fighter Ismail Abdul Hassan, 17, recovers in Baghdad's al-Wasiti hospital after being wounded by an improvised explosive device while patrolling Baghdad's hinterland. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Volunteer fighter Ismail Abdul Hassan, 17, recovers in Baghdad's al-Wasiti hospital after being wounded by an improvised explosive device while patrolling Baghdad's hinterland. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Volunteer fighter Ismail Abdul Hassan, 17, recovers in Baghdad's al-Wasiti hospital after being wounded by an improvised explosive device while patrolling Baghdad's hinterland. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Volunteer fighter Ismail Abdul Hassan, 17, recovers in Baghdad's al-Wasiti hospital after being wounded by an improvised explosive device while patrolling Baghdad's hinterland. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Don't call them militias: Haji Jaafar al-Bindawi (centre) with his men at the Imam Ali Brigade's headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Don't call them militias: Haji Jaafar al-Bindawi (centre) with his men at the Imam Ali Brigade's headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have enough manpower': Sheikh Adnan al-Shahmani, MP and militia leader, at his home in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have enough manpower': Sheikh Adnan al-Shahmani, MP and militia leader, at his home in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have a creed': Imam Ali Brigade fighters take their evening meal together. Photo: Kate Geraghty
'We have a creed': Imam Ali Brigade fighters take their evening meal together. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Defending Iraq: A fighter with the Shiite Imam Ali Brigade guards its headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Defending Iraq: A fighter with the Shiite Imam Ali Brigade guards its headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Volunteer fighter Ismail Abdul Hassan, 17, recovers in Baghdad's al-Wasiti hospital after being wounded by an improvised explosive device while patrolling Baghdad's hinterland. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Volunteer fighter Ismail Abdul Hassan, 17, recovers in Baghdad's al-Wasiti hospital after being wounded by an improvised explosive device while patrolling Baghdad's hinterland. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Don't call them militias: Haji Jaafar al-Bindawi (centre) with his men at the Imam Ali Brigade's headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Don't call them militias: Haji Jaafar al-Bindawi (centre) with his men at the Imam Ali Brigade's headquarters in Baghdad. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Uneasy partners: Ahmad Hatif (left) and Fadil al-Shairawi, spokesmen for the Imam Ali Brigade, view the United States with suspicion. Photo: Kate Geraghty
Uneasy partners: Ahmad Hatif (left) and Fadil al-Shairawi, spokesmen for the Imam Ali Brigade, view the United States with suspicion. Photo: Kate Geraghty

Baghdad: In a city awash with blood and gore, it borders on precious for the perpetrators of some of the brutality to demand that we slice and dice words in depicting their actions for a foreign audience.