Ousting US troops from Iraq despite Donald Trump's vow to stay is now the top goal of pro-Iranian Shiite armed groups. And their leaders say there are only two ways -- by passing a new law, or by force.
US-Iraq relations have grown tense once again, after a series of ups and downs over the years, from the 1990 Gulf war though crippling sanctions to the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and the fight against the Islamic State group.
But a year after Iraq declared victory over IS following a three-year war against the jihadists in which it was also backed by Iran, the Americans are seen by some as an unwanted "occupying force".
And if they do stay, "every Iraqi will have the legitimate right to confront them by any means," warned Mohammed Mohie, spokesman for the Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq, a force close to Iran that has also fought on the side of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
The powerful leader of the Asaib Ahel al-Haq (League of the Righteous) armed group, Qais al-Khazali, echoed the warning.
"If we are ever needed, we are ready," he said.
There were nearly 4,500 US troops killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, including in fighting with Shiite armed groups.
But before any decision to take up arms again and spill more blood, Mohie said he wants to give lawmakers a chance to set a timeframe for the departure of US troops from Iraq.
A bill has been tabled in parliament, and there could be a rare show of unanimity in support of it between its two biggest factions: populist cleric Moqtada Sadr's alliance, which champions Iraq's independence, and the pro-Iranian bloc of former anti-IS fighters.
"For three years, the main rivalry in parliament has been among Shiite factions," said Renad Mansour, a researcher at the Chatham House think-tank.
"They cannot agree on the choice of a minister, but they do on one point: that the experience of having America in Iraq has been bad."
The experience they gained "will serve to confront any army that threatens Iraq and its sovereignty."
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