Iraq Insurgency and Counter-insurgency Essay

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Iraq is one of the places that have received global attention because of the invasion by foreigners and people rebelling against the government. The United States and several other countries have taken part in the armed conflict, but the true reasons lied much deeper. People became fed up with the regime that was placed over their lives and they took up arms.

Everything began in the year 2003, when the government was on a brink of extinction and the citizens demanded justice. A major war conflict became evident in 2006, when the Americans attacked. At this turbulent time, both people and the government have been trying to set the order and find a way to co-exist. One of the key features of the insurgency is that it is revolutionary, but the techniques of fighting and tactics are much different. There are several tribes or groups of people who are organized into a force and mobilized. The moving forces for such rebellion are both social and economic, as people have no other way to change things, except of an open violent conflict. It was evident that there were many attacks on the civilian population, and the presence of the foreign fighters only angered the local people and insurgents. The whole population was becoming unstable and the future events have proven catastrophic (Cordesman 15).

Iraqi insurgency was one that had very unique and culture specific qualities. It is important to realize how many people there and what idea they are fighting for. The more groups there are the better connected and interdependent the network of the resistance is. In Iraq, there were unifying reasons and people were able to become the “tip of the sword” that fought for their truthful ideas and beliefs. The fact that an invading force of the United States was present and active, caused the tribes to respond within the same context. The message that was dominant among the Iraqis was that the Americans were trying to dominate and overpower Iraq, and would eventually take control. This was very effective, as people began fighting for their right to exist in the land of their ancestors. Iraqi greatly value freedom in their beliefs and traditions; so many people were mobilized in the resistance (Gordon 7).

As a result of such violent outbreaks, the number of people fighting was constantly growing. Within the course of two years, since 2003, the attacks were increasing almost every day, which showed that Iraqis were much knowledgeable in the warfare and military strategizing. Eventually, there were so many attacks that the fighting turned into a full scale civil war. The critical point has been reached and something had to be done, which was the withdrawal of the United States troops. But this did not stop the insurgency, as there were still violent attacks with the tribes being widely spread and organized. The rebellion has a very intricate network of groups that can communicate and divert their actions to a specific area if needed. This makes the decision making process and movement of the forces very unpredictable (Hashim 9).

The Middle East is a place which is much different from all other nations. It has its own traditions, culture and a way to conduct uprisings. The failure to understand crucial nature of people led to bloodshed and unneeded suffering.

Works Cited

Cordesman, Anthony. Iraq’s Insurgency and the Road to Civil Conflict. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. Print.

Gordon, Joy. Invisible War: The United States and the Iraq Sanctions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010. Print.

Hashim, Ahmed. Insurgency and Counter-insurgency in Iraq. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2005. Print.

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