The Assadi Basij: Sectarian Militias Whose Mission Will Be To Destabilizing A Post-Assad Syria
30 January 2013By Tariq Alhomayed
It seems that the advice of Iranian General Qasim
Sulaimani, commander of the Qods Force, has now begun
to be applied in Syria. The Assad regime has announced
the formation of a new military force named the
National Defense Army, which will serve as a reservist
force for the Assad regime forces.
According to Russia Today, this army will be made up
of civilian elements carrying out their military
service, in addition to popular committees formed in
the wake of the Syrian conflict. Russia Today said
that this army's mission will be to protect
neighborhoods from attacks by the armed opposition,
adding that its cadres will wear uniform and be paid a
monthly salary. As for this force's numbers, it will
be made of ten thousand youth from different provinces
across the country.
Of course, the opposition rushed to describe this as a
re-branding of the pro-regime Shabiha militia; however
the fact of the matter is that this National Defense
Army is closer to the Iranian Basij militia.
Basij, in Farsi, literally means mobilization. The
Basij was formed by Imam Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi
Khomeini in November 1979 and falls under the command
of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC). The
Basij is made up of volunteers who strongly believe in
the concept of velayat el-faqih (Guardianship of the
Jurists) and they played an important role in crushing
Iran's Green Revolution during the last presidential
election. In this case, the formation of a force like
that of the National Defense Army, or shall we say the
Assadi Basij, represents proof that Assad has begun to
lose confidence in the conventional Syrian army,
particularly in light of the huge number of defections
from this. This has forced the Assad regime to avoid
providing Syrian regular army soldiers with heavy
weapons and sophisticated equipment for fear that they
could defect, taking these arms and equipment to the
opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA). In fact, the FSA is
now seeking to destroy Assad regime tanks, for
example, particularly as they are aware that these
tanks are not fully armed—being provided with 5 or
less shells—which makes it easier to destroy such
tanks than attempt to capture them.
The formation of the Assadi Basij also shows that the
regime is seeking to utilize sectarianism to
reestablish itself, particularly as it has begun to
seek to attract cadres with strong resolve, not just
loyalty to the regime. This is because many of those
loyal to Assad have now been convinced of his
inevitable demise. The regime is therefore seeking to
ensure that its latest military force is comprised of
fighters who are aware that their fate and that of
Bashar al-Assad are inexorably linked and will
consequently defend him to the death.
We say that this new force, the Assadi Basij, is an
Iranian idea because it comes at a time when Assad
does not even have sufficient funds to pay the
salaries of his soldier or rescue the Syrian economy,
particularly as the revolution is said to be costing
him one billion dollars every month. Therefore, it is
clear that the Assadi Basij was formed thanks to
Iranian support and advice, and this is in line with
the security plan being implemented in Damascus,
namely to divide the capital into four security
sectors. This is the same approach that was taken to
suppress the Green Revolution in Iran when the Iranian
security forces divided Tehran into different security
sectors to disperse the crowds and prevent any
security breaches.
The Assadi Basij exposes the extent of Iran's
involvement in Syria, as well as the depth of the
crisis that Assad is facing, to the point that he no
longer trusts his own military forces. This also
demonstrates the extent of the destruction that Assad
has visited on Syria. More than this, the formation of
this Assadi Basij also indicates the dangers that we
may face in the post-Assad period, as he is now
seeking to create terrorist groups and sectarian
militias whose mission will be to destabilizing a
post-Assad Syria.
Tariq Alhomayed is the Editor-in-Chief of Asharq
Al-Awsat, the youngest person to be appointed that
position. He holds a BA degree in Media studies from
King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, and has also
completed his Introductory courses towards a Master's
degree from George Washington University in Washington
D.C. He is based in London.
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