Special to WorldTribune.com

Reports that American forces and Iranian militias, at least one of which is tied to a terror attack on U.S. troops, are sharing a base in Iraq have baffled and infuriated U.S. officials.

“Even if these guys don’t attack us … Iran is ushering in a new Hizbullah era in Iraq, and we will have aided and abetted it,” a senior U.S. official said.

Officials are hesitant to buy Iran’s pledge that the Shi’ite militias at the base would not interfere with American operations. “There’s no real command and control from the central government,” the U.S. official said.

Two Obama administration officials on June 22 confirmed that the Taqqadum military base in Iraq’s Anbar province that is being used to train Iraqi forces to fight Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) is also being occupied by Iranian Shi’ite militia groups that were brought in by the Iraqi government.

One of those groups at the base, the League of the Righteous, was responsible for a roadside execution of five U.S. soldiers in 2007.

“It’s an insult to the families of the American soldiers that were wounded and killed in battles in which the Shia militias were the enemy,” Sen. John McCain told Bloomberg. “Now, providing arms to them and supporting them, it’s very hard for those families to understand.”

U.S. officials acknowledged that, in the fight against ISIL in Iraq, cooperation with known terror groups is largely unavoidable but they also admit it could wind up hurting American interests in the Middle East.

Some Obama administration officials have voiced concern that sharing the base with Iranian militias puts American soldiers’ lives at risk and U.S. intelligence officials fear Iran is taking advantage of the situation to spy on U.S. military operations.

  John McCain, League of the Righteous, New ally? Administration confirms Iranian militias are sharing Iraqi base with U.S. forces, Taqqadum, WorldTribune.com