Sammendrag
Since its formation in 2014, al-Hashd al-Sha’bi has established itself as an effective fighting force in Iraq and has played a significant role in fighting IS. It rapidly became a powerful and significant force almost overnight, capable of standing up to the IS’s lightning advance in Iraq. The organization gained support and popularity from its success in battlefields, helping to stem militants advance and regain most of the territories controlled by IS. This thesis will tackle the newly formed military organization al-Hashd al-Sha’bi in Iraq, and asks how the organization’s elite discursively legitimize their role and war on IS. It will attempt, through interviews with al-Hashd representatives and elites to contribute with insight into the military organization, and more specifically their discourse legitimizing their formation as a national armed force parallel to the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service. It will also seek to examine how they plan to achieve their short-term and long-term goals in Iraq, militarily, as well as politically. This will hopefully contribute to a more profound understanding of the nature of the motives behind their chosen policies.