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Washington A former aide to General David Petraeus warns that as the Pentagon prepares to send another 1,500 US troops to Iraq to help destroy the Islamic State fighters, there may be an even greater danger that forces face: Iranian-backed Shiite militias.

The power of these militias has been growing throughout the country this year after Iraqi security forces were unable to prevail and in some cases shed their uniforms and ran while battling Islamic State fighters.

The Shiite militias are well-trained, in many cases by Iranian military commanders, and battle-tested. During the height of the Iraq war, these militias were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of US troops.

While the Islamic State is a potent military foe, it has comparatively little support from Iraqis. But Shiite militias play upon the worst fears of Iraq's Sunni and Kurdish minorities that the Shiite majority is ruthlessly consolidating power. Indeed, some analysts say Iraqi Sunnis tolerate the Islamic State because it is seen as a counterweight to the Shiite militias.

In that way, Shiite militias could present a thornier problem to the future of a unified Iraq than does the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS.

Back in 2007, when I was serving with Petraeus, I mentioned to him that although Al Qaeda in Iraq was the wolf closest to the shed, in the long run Shiite militias could be more dangerous to Iraqi sovereignty, says retired Colonel Peter Mansoor.

Not much has changed Al Qaeda in Iraq has been replaced by ISIS as the wolf closest to the shed, says Dr. Mansoor, who is now an associate professor of military history at Ohio State University.

This is a view seconded by a number of seasoned Iraq analysts.

As significant as is the threat from the Islamic State and it is very significant the threat posed by Shiite militias may well prove to be the long-term threat to Iraq, says a former senior US commander in Iraq, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

This is because the Islamic State has nowhere near the roots, numbers, nor attraction to the Sunni population of Iraq that Al Qaeda in Iraq did at the start of the surge of US forces into Iraq in early 2007, the former commander explains.

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Worse than Islamic State? Concerns rise about Iraq's Shiite militias.