The mainstream media would have us believe that it’s a war between a terrorist group called ISIS, and the U.S. installed government of Iraq, led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki – but is it really just a sectarian battle between the Sunni terrorists and the Shiite-dominated government, with the people of Iraq caught in the middle?
Not according to Michael Schwartz.
For the last couple of years, local folks in the Sunni areas of Iraq–many of whom are now involved in this insurgency–have been organizing protests, nonviolent and violent, against the government, based on numerous justified grievances.
As the government has escalated its repression of these protests, what is essentially a guerrilla war has developed (or rather a large number of uncoordinated local guerrilla-type insurgencies) in the various cities and towns in Anbar, Nineveh and other northwest provinces. ISIS–with a multi-local presence in many, but not all, of the local areas–is an (often vicious) element in the mix. It sometimes takes leadership, but most often, it is not the dominant force in any locality.
Read On: Understanding the crisis in Iraq | SocialistWorker.org.