Iranian Influence in Iraq and the Case of Camp Liberty

Camp Liberty is the location in Iraq where more than 2,000 Iranian refugees currently live since they were internally relocated from their previous location at Camp Ashraf. The residents of the camp are dissidents who have long since opposed the regime in Tehran. When United States forces entered Iraq in 2003, the residents of what was then Camp Ashraf renounced violence, gave up their weapons, and agreed to come under United States military protection as "protected persons" under Article 4 of the Geneva Conventions. This responsibility ultimately transferred to the Iraqi government. In recent years, the residents of the camp have been the victims of rocket attacks and violent raids, which have resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people. Most of these attacks are reportedly the work of radical Iraqi military-militia groups and agents of the Iranian regime. The case of Camp Liberty is symptomatic of a larger problem that we face in Iraq, and indeed across the Middle East. The problem of Iran's malign influence, which has been growing in recent years, in part due to a lack of an effective United States regional strategy to counter it.