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91. Confidence Building between Turks and Iraqi Kurds

Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Atlantic Council
Abstract:
The Obama administration's “responsible redeployment” from Iraq is made even more urgent by the requirements resulting from worsening conditions in Afghanistan and Pakistan. For redeployment to occur on scale and on schedule, the United States seeks an end-state in Iraq that is stable and at peace with its neighbors. Simmering sectarian violence is inevitable, but it will not break Iraq. However, ethnic conflict between Arabs and Kurds could escalate into a major conflagration with regional implications.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, Ethnic Conflict, Bilateral Relations, Sectarianism, and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:
Iraq, Turkey, and Middle East

92. Asaib Ahl al Haq and the Special Groups

Author:
Marisa Cochrane Sullivan
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:
Multi-National Force-Iraq has identified various Shia extremist groups operating in Iraq, often using the label Special Groups or Secret Cells. MNF-I named Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH, or the Leage of the Righteous) as an active group on August 19, 2008 and released information that AAH is "affiliated" with Special Groups.This paper evaluates how the two groups, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Special Groups are affiliated by testing four hypotheses about the relationship between the Special Groups network, led at one time by Qais Khazali, and Asaib Ahl al Haq (League of the Righteous).
Topic:
Armed Struggle, Sectarianism, and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:
Middle East

93. Countering Violent Extremism: Lessons from the Abrahamic Faiths

Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
The April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was the deadliest act of domestic terrorism on U.S. soil and focused the attention of law enforcement, policy makers, and the public on the long overlooked or ignored activities of American paramilitary groups. Although the actions of those convicted for the bombing—Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, and Michael Fortier—were not driven principally by theology, the political movements from which they drew their inspiration have long been associated with the beliefs of a movement that has taken the name “Christian Identity.” It is characterized by ideas purporting to draw religious authority for anti- Semitism, white supremacism, and neo-Nazism.
Topic:
International Relations, Political Violence, Religion, Insurgency, and Sectarianism
Political Geography:
United States

94. Multi-National Division – Center's Operations during the 2007-2008 Troop Surge

Author:
Farook Ahmed
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:
Prior to June 2007, there was minimal Coalition presence in the suburban "belts" that ring Baghdad. As a result, by December 2006, al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) had sanctuary in the Tigris, Euphrates and Diyala river valleys north and south of Baghdad. AQI was in control of a relatively small section of West Baghdad. Insurgents used the areas south of Baghdad, particularly the area of Arab Jabour, as supporting nodes to build improvised explosive devices (IEDs), Vehicle-Borne IEDs (VBIEDs - car and truck bombs) and then move them into Baghdad. Captured documents show that the group's strategy was to control those areas and then project its power into Baghdad with the ultimate goal of overtaking the city.
Topic:
Islam, Armed Struggle, Sectarianism, and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:
Middle East and Arabia

95. Recent Attacks in Iraq: Al-Qaeda in Iraq or Special Groups?

Author:
Marisa Cochrane Sullivan
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:
Over the last month there has been an increase in coordinated, well-planned attacks. While Coalition Forces are still investigating the perpetrators of these attacks, others have been quick to credit al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). Although AQI is still present in Iraq, their networks have been largely disrupted by aggressive operations by Coalition Forces and Sons of Iraq (SoI). Since June 2007, the number of AQI attacks has decreased by eighty percent. Their recent activity has been limited to the use of female suicide bombers on soft targets. It is unlikely that AQI has regenerated its forces and capabilities in such a short period of time.
Topic:
Terrorism, Armed Struggle, Sectarianism, and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:
Middle East

96. The Iraqi Accord Front's Return to Government

Author:
Farook Ahmed
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:
Iraqi Prime Minister Nourial-Maliki's recent offensives against Shi'a extremist groups in Baghdad and Southern Iraq have been credited with bringing ancillary benefits to Iraq, as they have been credited by Iraq's main Sunni Arab parliamentary bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF, or "Tawafuq") to return to Prime Minister Maliki's government. This appears to strengthen the Iraqi government while serving as a milestone for Iraqi sectarian reconciliation.
Topic:
Terrorism, Armed Struggle, Governance, Sectarianism, and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:
Middle East

97. Baghdad's Neighborhoods: November 2006 – August 2007: The Baghdad Security Plan in Mansour District

Author:
Andrea R. So
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:
In March 2003, before Operation Iraqi Freedom I began, Baghdad's Mansour district was an affluent Sunni enclave with “villas, gardens, and private pools.”Also known as the “embassies district,” it attracted shoppers seeking luxury foreign goods from all over the city.Due to the ongoing Iraq War, however, the district and its many neighborhoods succumbed to sectarian violence. In the four years between 2003 and 2007, conflict between Sunni and Shiite militias transformed Mansour into “a bombed-out wasteland.”The intense violence included street battles between rival militias, kidnappings, bombings, assassinations and death squads. Thus, many residents to fled from the area due to a lack of security and services. Because this district was “one of the most heavily contested by the Shiite and Sunni militias,” restoring order there has been challenging for U.S. and Iraqi Security Forces.
Topic:
Terrorism, Armed Struggle, Sectarianism, and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:
United States and Middle East

98. The Knights of Ameriya: Concerned Citizens in Baghdad

Author:
Will Waddell
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:
They call themselves Farsan Al Rafidayn, the Knights of the Two Rivers. And in Ameriya, a formerly wealthy district of western Baghdad, they have turned on al Qaeda, routing with the help of the coalition, approximately 90% of the terrorist operatives.
Topic:
Terrorism, Armed Struggle, and Sectarianism
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East

99. Reconciliation Movements in and around Baghdad

Author:
Will Waddell
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:
The refrain of 'concerned citizens' and 'reconciliation', so familiar in the news emanating from places like Anbar and Diyala, has found a degree of resonance in the Iraqi capital. More complex than in the provinces, the effort for local security and reconciliation within Baghdad has taken on a two-tiered nature. In the outskirts where tribal influence is greater, local sheiks are paramount in the process. Inside the city a cosmopolitan dynamic has made the push for local security rather more civic. Nevertheless, carried along tribal lines or given impetus by an increased U.S. presence, the movement for reconciliation and local security has found considerable traction in both Baghdad's environs and her core.
Topic:
Armed Struggle and Sectarianism
Political Geography:
United States, Iraq, and Middle East

100. Baghdad Neighborhood Project: Washash and Iskan

Author:
Patrick Gaughen
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for the Study of War
Abstract:
The neighborhoods of Washash and Iskan are located in the northeast corner of the Mansour Security District in Baghdad. These historically mixed areas lay on the fault line between Shia-dominated neighborhoods to the north in Hurriya and Kadhimiyah and Sunni-dominated neighborhoods to the west and south, including the Sunni strongholds of 'Adl, Jamia, Khadra, and al-Mutannabi. As such, they have witnessed vicious sectarian cleansing by Shia militias anreprisal operations likely conducted by Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) or other Sunni insurgent groups.
Topic:
Islam, Sectarianism, and Sectarian violence
Political Geography:
Iraq and Middle East