Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq by Ahmed S. Hashim - 2006

Cambridge University Press/Hurst Publication, 2006. First edition. Hardcover. New. In this sobering account of the ongoing violence in Iraq, Ahmed Hashim, a specialist on Middle Eastern startegic issues and irregular warfare, reveals the insurgents behind the widespread revolt, their motives, and their tactics. The insurgency, he shows, is not a united movement directed by a leadership with a single ideological vision. Instead, it involves former regime loyalists, Iraqis resentful of foreign occupation, foreign and domestic Islamist extremists, and elements of organized crime. These groups have cooperated with one another in the past and coordinated their attacks; but the alliance between nationalist Iraqi insurgents on the one hand and religious extremists has frayed considerably. The U.S. -led offensive to retake Fallujah in November 2004 and the success of the elections for the Iraqi National Assembly in January 2005 have led more `mainstream` insurgent groups to begin thnking of reinforcing the political arm of their opposition movement and to seek political guarantees for the Sunni Arab community in the new Iraq. Hashim begins by placing the Iraqi revolt in its historical context. He next profiles the various insurgent groups, detailing their origins, aims, and operational and tactical modi operandi. He concludes with an unusually candid assessment of the successes and failures of the Coalition`s counter-insurgency campaign. In place of sensational headlines, official triumphalism, and hand-wringing, Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq offers a clear-eyed analysis of the increasingly complex violence that threatens the very future of Iraq. Contents Acknowledgements Preface Maps 1. Evolution of the Iraqi Insurgency: from Conventional to Partisan Warfare during Operation Iraqi Freedom 2. Origins and Motives of the Insurgency 3. The Insurgencts` Way of Warfare 4. Contending National Identities: the Kurds and Shi`a Arabs 5. Ideology, Politics and Failure to Execute: the US Counter- Insurgency Campaign Conclusions: Whither Iraq? Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index Printed Pages: 510. Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in IraqAhmed S. Hashim9781850657958