Badr Organization

Not to be confused with Badr Brigade in the Jordanian Army.

Badr Organization منظمة بدر
Leader	Hadi al-Amiri
Founder	Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim
Founded	1982 (1982) as a militia of ISCI
Ideology	Shi'a Islamism, Religious Conservatism
Political position	Right-wing
Religion	Shi'a Islam
Seats in the Council of Representatives of Iraq:	8 / 325
Website
http://www.almejlis.org/ (Arabic)
Politics of Iraq Political parties Elections

The Badr Organization (Arabic: منظمة بدر‎) previously known as the Badr Brigades or Badr Corps is an Iraqi political party headed by Hadi al-Amiri. Previously, it was the armed wing of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) but since the 2003 invasion of Iraq most of its fighters have entered the new Iraqi army and police force and it officially became a completely political organization. However, Badr militiamen are still occasionally being reported by national media as active.

Politically, Badr Brigade and ISCI were considered to be one party since 2003, but have now unofficially separated.

The organization was based in Iran for two decades during the rule of Saddam Hussein. It consisted of several thousand Iraqi exiles, refugees, and defectors who fought alongside Iran in the Iran–Iraq War. Returning to Iraq following the 2003 coalition invasion, the group changed its name from brigade to organization in response to the attempted voluntary disarming of Iraqi militias by the Coalition Provisional Authority. It is however widely believed the organization is still active as a militia within the security forces and it has been accused of sectarian killings during the Iraqi Civil War.^{[citation needed]}

History

Originally the Badr Brigade, it grew to a division and then a corps. The Badr Brigade was formed by Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim to fight Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime in Iraq. Its members were drawn from Iraqi Shia political and religious dissidents. The Badr forces fought alongside Iran in the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988). Before 2003, it was based in Iran for two decades during the rule of Saddam Hussein.

Structure

The Badr Corps consists of infantry, armor, artillery, anti-aircraft, and commando units with an estimated strength of between 10,000 and 50,000 men (according to the Badr Organization) but this is difficult to confirm. It is also hard to estimate how much capability they have beyond light arms today as CPA forces are unlikely to have allowed them to retain armor and other easily identified heavy assets in Iraq's current (2007) uncertain situation.

Badr Organization and post-invasion Iraq

Badr Organization
Participant in the Iraq War
Active	1982 – 2003 (officially)
Groups	Al-Hakeem
Leaders	Hadi al-Amiri
Headquarters	Najaf, Iraq
Area of operations	Baghdad and Southern Iraq
Strength	10,000-15,000
Opponents	Ba'ath Party
Battles/wars	Iran–Iraq War , 1991 uprisings in Iraq , Iraqi Kurdish Civil War, Iraq War

Because of their opposition to Saddam Hussein, the Badr Brigade was seen as a U.S. asset in the fight against Baathist partisans. After the fall of Baghdad, Badr forces reportedly joined the newly-reconstituted army, police and Interior Ministry in significant numbers.

See also

• Private militias in Iraq

External links

• NPR: Opposition Group Claiming to Represent Iraqi Shias Enters Northern Iraq