Rise Of The Islamic State And the Fading Away of the Rest of the Iraqi Insurgency Interview With Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi (original) (raw)

From 2013-2014 it seemed like there was a broad rebirth of the Iraqi insurgency. The protest movement against Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government revived a number of groups, which had gone dormant by the time of the U.S. withdrawal in 2011. The Islamic State (IS) and the Jaish Rijal al-Tariqa al-Naqshibandi (JRTN), two organizations, which never ceased operating were regrouping as well. A rough agreement was made between these different factions to work together during the summer of 2014 to seize territory from the government, which resulted in the fall of Mosul, Tikrit, and a large swath of Kirkuk province as well. The number of different groups who participated in the offensive last year gave rise to a narrative about revolutionaries and tribes, not just the Islamic State carrying out a revolt against Baghdad. Today, the story has changed as many of these smaller groups have either been swallowed up by IS or gone dormant. To help explain the changes that have taken place within the Iraqi insurgency is Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi a fellow at the Middle East Forum. He can be followed on Twitter at @ajaltamimi.