It’s an Anbar Thing (Not an AQ or U.S. Thing) by Peter Munson, War on the Rocks.
News of al Qaeda’s dramatic return to Iraq’s Anbar Province last week has reopened many old wounds. After years of brutal fighting there that bought an uneasy peace, many Americans are wondering what it all was for. The apparent “fall” of Fallujah to fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) strikes an especially bitter blow for many American veterans, not to mention the Iraqi troops they fought alongside and the Iraqi civilians they protected. According to Iraqi police sources, ISIS also holds significant ground in Ramadi and has taken the blood-soaked town of Karmah that lies between Fallujah and Baghdad. Perhaps the most chilling report is that insurgents attacked an Iraqi army convoy on the Baghdad-Fallujah highway, taking three tanks and demonstrating the intent to once again isolate Anbar from the rest of the country…
Comments
While I would agree that the overview is a good one I would go a step further and say it is not only just about Anbar but the entire Sunni triangle---as there have been reports of intense town fights in Dilaya ie Baqubah.
In some aspects it is really about the Shia/Sunni divide and how Iraq is being viewed by the KSA in it's drive to contain the Green Crescent but that takes us back to the Iraq/Syrian relationship.
Malaki is simply unwilling to build into the current Iraq government protections for the Sunni as a minority as well as a true process of oil money sharing.
He is just carrying out his view on how to handle the Sunni for past grievances.
As Robert would say it is all about governance.