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Looking Into Iraq
Chaillot Paper July 2005 n°79 Looking into Iraq Martin van Bruinessen, Jean-François Daguzan, Andrzej Kapiszewski, Walter Posch and Álvaro de Vasconcelos Edited by Walter Posch cc79-cover.qxp 28/07/2005 15:27 Page 2 Chaillot Paper Chaillot n° 79 In January 2002 the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) beca- Looking into Iraq me an autonomous Paris-based agency of the European Union. Following an EU Council Joint Action of 20 July 2001, it is now an integral part of the new structures that will support the further development of the CFSP/ESDP. The Institute’s core mission is to provide analyses and recommendations that can be of use and relevance to the formulation of the European security and defence policy. In carrying out that mission, it also acts as an interface between European experts and decision-makers at all levels. Chaillot Papers are monographs on topical questions written either by a member of the ISS research team or by outside authors chosen and commissioned by the Institute. Early drafts are normally discussed at a semi- nar or study group of experts convened by the Institute and publication indicates that the paper is considered Edited by Walter Posch Edited by Walter by the ISS as a useful and authoritative contribution to the debate on CFSP/ESDP. Responsibility for the views expressed in them lies exclusively with authors. Chaillot Papers are also accessible via the Institute’s Website: www.iss-eu.org cc79-Text.qxp 28/07/2005 15:36 Page 1 Chaillot Paper July 2005 n°79 Looking into Iraq Martin van Bruinessen, Jean-François Daguzan, Andrzej Kapiszewski, Walter Posch and Álvaro de Vasconcelos Edited by Walter Posch Institute for Security Studies European Union Paris cc79-Text.qxp 28/07/2005 15:36 Page 2 Institute for Security Studies European Union 43 avenue du Président Wilson 75775 Paris cedex 16 tel.: +33 (0)1 56 89 19 30 fax: +33 (0)1 56 89 19 31 e-mail: [email protected] www.iss-eu.org Director: Nicole Gnesotto © EU Institute for Security Studies 2005. -
Iraq's Muqtada Al-Sadr
IRAQ’S MUQTADA AL-SADR: SPOILER OR STABILISER? Middle East Report N°55 – 11 July 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................. i I. MUQTADA’S LINEAGE .............................................................................................. 1 A. MUHAMMAD BAQIR AL-SADR: THE REVOLUTIONARY THINKER AND “FIRST MARTYR” ......2 B. MUHAMMAD SADIQ AL-SADR: THE PLEBEIAN ACTIVIST AND “SECOND MARTYR”............3 C. MUQTADA AL-SADR: THE UNLIKELY HEIR .........................................................................6 II. MUQTADA’S STEEP AND SWIFT LEARNING CURVE....................................... 7 A. FROM CONFRONTATION TO DOMINANT PRESENCE................................................................7 B. TRIAL AND ERROR: THE FAILURE AND LESSONS OF RADICALISATION ................................10 C. MUQTADA’S POLITICAL ENTRY ..........................................................................................12 III. THE SADRIST MOVEMENT: AN ATYPICAL PHENOMENON ....................... 17 A. MUQTADA’S POLITICAL RESOURCES...................................................................................17 B. AN UNSTRUCTURED MOVEMENT ........................................................................................20 IV. THREE POTENTIAL SOURCES OF CONFLICT ................................................. 21 V. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................. 24 APPENDICES A. MAP OF IRAQ ......................................................................................................................25 -
What the Pen Reveals About the Sword: Rhetoric-Based Mapping of Insurgency Factional Structure in Iraq
What the Pen Reveals About the Sword: Rhetoric-Based Mapping of Insurgency Factional Structure in Iraq Michael Gabbay Information Systems Laboratories, Inc. 200 W. Mercer St., Ste 410 Seattle, WA 98119 [email protected] Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association March 28, 2008 Note: A condensed version of this paper appeared as \Mapping the Structure of the Sunni Insurgency in Iraq," CTC Sentinel, 1(4):10{12, March 2008 ISL What the Pen Reveals About the Sword M. Gabbay 1 Introduction The Iraq conflict is a complex fusion of a rebellion against foreign occu- pation and an internal civil war | a conflict that seems intent on explor- ing almost all axes of violence between its participants. Divisions within the Sunni insurgency in Iraq have critically influenced the evolution of the conflict and will no doubt bear critically upon its subsequent course and resolution. Major points of contention between nationalist-leaning insur- gents and caliphate-minded, pan-Islamic jihadists have been, among others, Sunni participation in elections, the indiscriminate targeting of Shiite civil- ians, and the nature of the threat posed by United States-backed Sunni militias, known as \awakening councils." Understanding the divisions be- tween insurgents at the level of speci¯c insurgent groups is key to devising e®ective counterinsurgency and conflict resolution strategies. In Iraq, this task is complicated by the proliferation of insurgent groups, most of whom claim an Islamist mantle, and the murky nature of their origins, composi- tion, and leadership. In this paper, we describe a quantitative methodology for constructing diagrams that characterize and clarify insurgency factional structure using insurgent rhetoric as data. -
The Sunni Tribes in Iraq: Between Local Power, the International Coalition 1 and the Islamic State by Hosham Dawod
Report September 2015 The Sunni tribes in Iraq: between local power, the international coalition 1 and the Islamic State By Hosham Dawod Executive summary Particularly in the Middle East there is increased interest in the social and political realities that the term “tribe” now refers to in societies experiencing internal conflict, with both local and global implications. Nearly everywhere the Arab Spring has ended in civil war, attempts at neo-authoritarianism or, more visibly, a spiralling increase in Islamic State-type radical jihadism. In the face of the weakness and even collapse of states, the international powers’ flexibility has been reduced and recourse to tribal support has become increasingly common. The following analysis looks briefly at the phenomenon of the Sunni tribes in Iraq – a country that is experiencing a political break-up, a weakening of the state, radical jihadism, a sectarian war, and regional and international intervention. In the Arab Muslim world the tribe is back at the centre of do not necessarily trigger or accelerate the disappearance political, military and – more generally speaking – security of a range of sociohistorical phenomena (local communi- considerations. There is now no secret about the interest ties, infra-ethnic identities, tribes, etc.). On the contrary, that the U.S. army, after getting bogged down in Iraq, has we see in various places a significant dynamic resulting in taken in the tribal question in that country since 2004, i.e. a resurgence of these phenomena – to the extent that they a year after invading it. This interest was manifest espe- are situated at the heart of conflict resolution. -
Table of Contents
IRAQI INSURGENT MEDIA: THE WAR OF IMAGES AND IDEAS Table of Contents 1 Key Findings ................................................................................................................. 3 2 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4 2.1 Two Days in Iraq ....................................................................................... 4 2.2 The War of Ideas ....................................................................................... 6 3 Products ....................................................................................................................... 7 3.1 Texts ....................................................................................................... 7 3.1.1 Statements...................................................................................... 8 3.1.2 Periodicals .................................................................................... 19 3.1.3 Books ........................................................................................... 24 3.2 Audiovisual ............................................................................................ 25 3.2.1 Videotaped Attacks ........................................................................ 25 3.2.2 Films ............................................................................................ 28 3.2.3 Recorded Statements ..................................................................... 30 3.2.4 Songs .......................................................................................... -
Iraq: Falluja’S Faustian Bargain
Iraq: Falluja’s Faustian Bargain Middle East Report N°150 | 28 April 2014 International Crisis Group Headquarters Avenue Louise 149 1050 Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 502 90 38 Fax: +32 2 502 50 38 [email protected] Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... i Recommendations..................................................................................................................... iii I. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 II. Round Two in Falluja: Sectarian Polarisation ................................................................. 5 III. The View from Falluja ...................................................................................................... 9 A. Past as Prologue ......................................................................................................... 9 B. A Tenuous Unity ........................................................................................................ 10 C. Catch-22 ..................................................................................................................... 13 IV. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 16 APPENDICES A. Map of Iraq ...................................................................................................................... -
ISIS Propaganda and Recruitment
The Secret of Attraction ISIS Propaganda and Recruitment The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan The Deposit Number at the National Library (2016/3/1239) 324.21 Abu Rumman, Mohammad Suliman et al. The Secret of Attraction: ISIS Propaganda and Recruitment/ Mohammad Suliman Abu Rumman et al.; translated by William John Ward et al. –Amman: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2016 (121) p. Deposit No.: 2016/3/1239 Descriptors: /Political Conditions// Terrorism// Arab Countries/ يتحمل املؤلف كامل املسؤولية القانونية عن حمتوى مصنفه وﻻ يعرّب هذا املصنف عن رأي دائرة املكتبة الوطنية أو أي جهة حكومية أخرى. Published in 2016 by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung- Jordan and Iraq FES Jordan & Iraq P.O. Box 941876 11194 Amman Jordan Email: [email protected] Website: www.fes-jordan.org Not for Sale © FES Jordan & Iraq All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted, reproduced, or utilized in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the publishers. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are solely those of the original authors. They do not necessarily represent those of the Friedrich-Ebert- Stiftung or the editors. Translation: Abu Rumman (Samira Kawar), Lombardi & Abou-Taam (EVS Translations), all others (Industry Arabic) Editing: Banan Malkawi, Anja Wehler-Schoeck Cover: Ramzi Al Arabi Printing: Economic Press ISBN: 978-9957-484-65-1 2 Table of Contents Anja Wehler-Schoeck Introduction: Falling for ISIS ...................................................................................... 5 Mohammad Abu Rumman The Secret of Attraction: ISIS Propaganda and Recruitment ......................... 7 Hassan Abu Hanieh The Islamic State’s Appeal: Theories of Attraction ............................................ 15 Hassan al-Safadi The Case of Syria ............................................................................................................ -
Iraq: Politics and Governance
Iraq: Politics and Governance Kenneth Katzman Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs Carla E. Humud Analyst in Middle Eastern and African Affairs March 9, 2016 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RS21968 Iraq: Politics and Governance Summary Iraq’s sectarian and ethnic divisions—muted toward the end of the 2003-2011 U.S. military intervention in Iraq—are fueling a major challenge to Iraq’s stability and to U.S. policy in Iraq and the broader Middle East region. The resentment of Iraq’s Sunni Arabs toward the Shiite- dominated central government facilitated the capture in 2014 of nearly one-third of Iraqi territory by the Sunni Islamist extremist group called the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL, ISIS, or the Arabic acronym Da'esh). Iraq’s Kurds are separately embroiled in political, territorial, and economic disputes with Baghdad, but those differences have been at least temporarily subordinated to the common struggle against the Islamic State. U.S. officials assert that the Iraqi government must work to gain the loyalty of more of Iraq’s Sunnis—and to resolve differences with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)—if an eventual defeat of the Islamic State is to result in long-term stability. Prospects for greater inter- communal unity appeared to increase in 2014 with the replacement of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki with the current Prime Minister, Haydar al-Abbadi. Although both men are from the Shiite Islamist Da’wa Party, Abbadi has taken some steps to try to compromise with Sunnis and with the KRG. However, a significant point of contention with the KRG remains the KRG’s marketing of crude oil exports separately from Baghdad. -
The Iraqi Insurgency Actors, Strategies, and Structures
SWP Research Paper Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Guido Steinberg The Iraqi Insurgency Actors, Strategies, and Structures RP 13 December 2006 Berlin All rights reserved. © Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, 2006 SWP Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik German Institute for International and Security Affairs Ludwigkirchplatz 3−4 10719 Berlin Germany Phone +49 30 880 07-0 Fax +49 30 880 07-100 www.swp-berlin.org [email protected] ISSN 1863-1053 Translation by Darren Hall (English version of SWP-Studie 27/06) The translation and publication of this research paper was made possible through the generous sup- port of E.ON AG, Düsseldorf, and the collaboration of the Forum Ebenhausen Table of Contents 5 Problems and Findings 7 Phases of the Insurgency in Iraq 8 The Insurgent Organizations 8 National Islamists 8 The Islamic Army in Iraq 10 The 1920 Revolution Brigades 10 Jihadists 10 Ansar al-Sunna (Ansar al-Islam) 11 al-Qaida in Iraq 14 Goals and Strategies 14 Goals and Visions of Political Order 15 Strategies and Their Implementation 17 Conflicts between National Islamists and Jihadists 19 Characteristics and Structures 19 Decentralization 20 Areas of Operation 22 Financial Sources 23 The Number of Fighters 24 Motives and Origins of the Insurgents 24 Who Are the Indigenous Fighters? 25 Who Are the Foreign Fighters? 28 Dividing the Insurgency? 29 Conclusion: From Insurgency to Civil War? Problems and Findings The Iraqi Insurgency: Actors, Strategies, and Structures Four years after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, Sunni groups continue to fight an insurgency against the occupation forces, and the violence that erupted in summer 2003 has yet to let up. -
Iraq in Crisis
Burke Chair in Strategy Iraq in Crisis By Anthony H. Cordesman and Sam Khazai January 24, 2014 Request for comments: This report is a draft that will be turned into an electronic book. Comments and suggested changes would be greatly appreciated. Please send any comments to Anthony H. Cordsman, Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy, at [email protected]. ANTHONY H. CORDESMAN Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy [email protected] Iraq in Crisis: Cordesman and Khazai January 24, 2014 Update ii Acknowledgements This analysis was written with the assistance of Burke Chair researcher Daniel Dewitt. Iraq in Crisis: Cordesman and Khazai January 24, 2014 Update iii Executive Summary As events in late December 2013 and early 2014 have made brutally clear, Iraq is a nation in crisis bordering on civil war. It is burdened by a long history of war, internal power struggles, and failed governance. Is also a nation whose failed leadership is now creating a steady increase in the sectarian divisions between Shi’ite and Sunni, and the ethnic divisions between Arab and Kurd. Iraq suffers badly from the legacy of mistakes the US made during and after its invasion in 2003. It suffers from threat posed by the reemergence of violent Sunni extremist movements like Al Qaeda and equally violent Shi’ite militias. It suffers from pressure from Iran and near isolation by several key Arab states. It has increasingly become the victim of the forces unleashed by the Syrian civil war. The country’s main threats, however, result from self-inflicted wounds caused by its political leaders. -
The Jihad and Reform Front” Condemns
November 2008 “The Jihad and Reform Front” condemns the American attack in Syria On October 27, 2008, the “Jihad and Reform Front” (Jabhat Al-Jihad W-Al- Taghyir)1 posted a message on its website2 condemning the American attack in Syria on October 26.3 The message read as follows: Regarding the American aggression on our neighbour Syria, In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful, "And when he turns away, his effort in the land is to make mischief therein and to destroy the crops and the cattle, and Allah likes not mischief" (Al-Baqarah, 205) In a heinous crime based on a flagrant lie visible to all, that is added to the American government’s black list already replete with lies, American occupation helicopters carried out an act of aggression against the Arabic neighbour and sister Syria, an attack which brought on the death of eight civilians and the injuring of others. We in the “Jihad and Reform Front” condemn and denounce this criminal act of aggression, and view it to be a result of the hysteria and frustration felt by the American government and its troops in Iraq, especially following the public’s outraged response to the security agreement4 about to be signed with the “Green Zone”5 Government… It seems that the occupation troops – laden heavy with the burden of hundreds of thousands Iraqis, who 1 The “Jihad and Reform Front” is a Sunni umbrella-organization of Jihadi groups operating in Iraq, founded in May 2007. For additional information about the organization, see: http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP157107 2 http://www.jhadfront.com, and also http://jrfront.info/english 3 http://www.jhadfront.com/index.php?p=378 4 A security agreement between Iraq and the United States, extending the presence of American forces in the country 5 The Green Zone is an area in central Baghdad that was the center of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and remains the center of international presence in the city 1 1 P.O. -
The Failure of Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Iraq
BUILDING STATES, FAILING NATIONS: THE FAILURE OF POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION IN IRAQ Hawzhin Azeez B.A., M.A. A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2013 Newcastle Business School, Faculty of Business and Law The University of Newcastle, Australia. The thesis contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to the final version of my thesis being made available worldwide when deposited in the University’s Digital Repository**, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. **Unless an Embargo has been approved for a determined period. Acknowledgements The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the support of my supervisors Dr. Robert Imre and Dr. Tod Moore. Dr. Imre came on board at an exceptionally crucial time and rescued my confidence and desire to proceed with my research. Since then, his constant guidance and support, particularly in the form of emotional support and motivation has been profound in encouraging me to continue with the research. Dr. Imre has also been crucial in encouraging my confidence in teaching, one of my life's greatest passions, in addition to supporting my efforts at publications. Dr. Tod Moore likewise inherited a haphazard thesis and provided valuable feedback and support which was crucial to the completion of the thesis.