Insurgent Iraq

An unparalleled look into the Iraqi insurgency and the multitude of forces that continue to shape it, Insurgent Iraq: Al-Zarqawi and the New Generation presents a chilling account of the regrouping of terror networks, and the development of an Iraqi resistance since the invasion by coalition forces over two years ago. One of the world’s leading specialists on terrorism, economist Loretta Napoleoni is uniquely qualified to make sense of the ways in which terror networks do and do not operate in Iraq, and what role they play in the Iraqi resistance. Is the insurgency in Iraq a counter-Crusade, a national liberation movement, or a civil war? With a complex understanding of all the intricacies inherent in such a question, Napoleoni provides a mindful discussion, offering a much-needed understanding of how the US occupation of Iraq has catalyzed the cultural, religious, and political divides within the country to create a wholly changed, more volatile landscape. Composed of independent Iraqi Jihadist groups, Islamo-Nationalist and Ba’ath party resistance, ethnic infighting between Sunni, Shi’ite and Kurd, and foreign suicide bombers, the resistance is a divided yet maintains one demand: the end of US occupation. Overall, Napoleoni offers a breakdown of the current political landscape in Iraq, and a renovated al-Qaeda. Insurgent Iraq is a necessary read for anyone concerned with the future of Iraq, or seeking greater insight into the U.S.’s critical role in the Middle East.

Years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a loosely organized insurgency continues to target American and Coalition soldiers, as well as Iraqi security forces and civilians, with devastating results. In this sobering account of the ongoing violence, Ahmed Hashim, a specialist on Middle Eastern strategic issues and on irregular warfare, reveals the insurgents behind the widespread revolt, their motives, and their tactics. The insurgency, he shows, is not a united movement directed by a leadership with a single ideological vision. Instead, it involves former regime loyalists, Iraqis resentful of foreign occupation, foreign and domestic Islamist extremists, and elements of organized crime. These groups have cooperated with one another in the past and coordinated their attacks; but the alliance between nationalist Iraqi insurgents on the one hand and religious extremists has frayed considerably. The U.S.-led offensive to retake Fallujah in November 2004 and the success of the elections for the Iraqi National Assembly in January 2005 have led more "mainstream" insurgent groups to begin thinking of reinforcing the political arm of their opposition movement and to seek political guarantees for the Sunni Arab community in the new Iraq. Hashim begins by placing the Iraqi revolt in its historical context. He next profiles the various insurgent groups, detailing their origins, aims, and operational and tactical modi operandi. He concludes with an unusually candid assessment of the successes and failures of the Coalition's counter-insurgency campaign. Looking ahead, Hashim warns that ethnic and sectarian groups may soon be pitted against one another in what will be a fiercely contested fight over who gets what in the new Iraq. Evidence that such a conflict is already developing does not augur well for Iraq's future stability. Both Iraq and the United States must work hard to ensure that slow but steady success over the insurgency is not overshadowed by growing ethno-sectarian animosities as various groups fight one another for the biggest slice of the political and economic pie. In place of sensational headlines, official triumphalism, and hand-wringing, Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq offers a clear-eyed analysis of the increasingly complex violence that threatens the very future of Iraq.

The continuing proliferation of insurgent organizations suggests that insurgency is still widely perceived as an effective means either of achieving power and influence, or of bringing a cause to the notice of an international or national community. The end of European decolonization and the collapse of the Soviet Union together removed the motivational impulse for much conflict between the late 1940s and the late 1980s. However, new ideological, political, and commercial imperatives are now encouraging intrastate conflict and insurgency amid the breakdown of the international bipolar political system and the emergence of identity politics and of many more nonstate actors. This monograph considers the patterns of insurgency in the past by way of establishing how much the conflict in Iraq conforms to previous experience. In particular, the author compares and contrasts Iraq with previous Middle Eastern insurgencies such as those in Palestine, Aden, the Dhofar province of Oman, Algeria, and Lebanon. He suggests that there is much that can be learned from British, French, and Israeli experience.

First Published in 2009. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

From 2003 to 2008, the Sunni Arab insurgency in Iraq posed a key challenge to political stability in the country and to Coalition objectives there. This paper explains the onset, composition and evolution of this insurgency. It begins by addressing both its immediate and deeper sociopolitical origins, and goes on to examine the multiple ideological strands within the insurgency and their often conflicting methods and goals. Despite organisational incoherence due to the existence of a large number of competing groups, the insurgency in Iraq sustained a particularly high tempo of operations between 2004 and 2006, causing considerable military and civilian casualties. Some insurgent groups focused on attempting to foment civil war between two of Iraq’s major communities, the Sunni and Shia Arabs and, by late 2006, they had come close to unravelling Iraq and presenting the Coalition with a major defeat. The adoption of a new approach by the US in 2007 helped reduce the level of violence in Iraq. In addition, deep fissures within the insurgency itself, between those fighting for more practical, immediate goals and the transnational Islamists and their local allies fighting for wider-reaching goals – including the promotion of sectarian strife – contributed to the insurgency’s diminution. It remains to be seen whether there will be a widespread recognition among Sunni Iraqis of the need to work with the Coalition to facilitate their community’s reintegration into the new Iraqi body politic.

The war in Iraq has expanded from a struggle between Coalition forces and the remnants of former regime loyalists to a multi-faceted conflict involving numerous Sunni groups, Shi'ite militias, Kurdish nationals, and foreign jihadists. Iraq's Insurgency and the Road to Civil Conflict is Anthony Cordesman's latest assessment of the Iraqi conflict and documents its entire evolution, from the history of ethnic tensions through the current U.S. surge. He identifies each actor in the arena, analyzes their motivations, and presents a detailed record of their actions, tactics, and capabilities. Cordesman's exhaustive study, based on meticulous research, is the most thorough account of the war to date. Beginning with the consequences of imperial colonialism and touching upon the ethnic tensions throughout Saddam's regime, Cordesman examines and details the confluence of forces and events that have paved the way toward Iraq's current civil conflict. He analyzes major turning points, including elections, economic developments, and key incidents of violence that continue to shape the war. Finally, he outlines the lessons learned from this history and what can and cannot be done to stabilize the nation.

"There is a war outside the wire and we fight it every day on patrol, but the enemy is among us. There is another war, inside the wire, that although fought in silence is no less important to your safety. In some ways it is even more important because a man with his guard down is more vulnerable than a soldier prepared to meet his enemy in battle." As a Senior Counterintelligence Agent in Iraq, this is what Dr. Richard Saccone warned during staff meetings with combat troops facing bullets every day. Today's modern leaner military requires the hiring of thousands of contract workers and local nationals to work on U.S. bases performing services from translation to manual labor, light construction, maintenance and more. Out of the several thousand non-military personnel hired, insurgents are unceasing in their attempts to infiltrate, living and working right next to U.S. soldiers every day. Access and information are highly valuable commodities. Whether they are insurgents, sympathizers or working under threat of harm to themselves or their loved ones, it is difficult to know where true loyalties lie. Sifting through this human haystack, searching for the proverbial insurgent needle is the job of Counterintelligence (CI). Skilled CI agents work closely with Force Protection soldiers to identify and eliminate infiltrators and spies before they can harm U.S. forces in the sanctuary of their homes. This is the unseen war; the war not captured by the media. Without revealing classified methods that would undermine the CI effort, Dr. Saccone exposes the reader to the Unseen War in Iraq, a war of cloak-and-dagger and intrigue, a war interesting in its methods and critical to overall success. He reflects on his time spent at Abu Ghraib prison, raises thought-provoking questions relating to the difference between torture and coercive techniques, methods to distinguish between the "good guys" and the "bad guys" and provides deep insight into ways the military could improve their counterintelligence strategy.