Jun 16
https://gulfif.org/iraqs-armed-factions-and-the-logic-of-survival/
Iraq’s most powerful armed factions are increasingly prioritizing political influence over confrontation. Iraq has long offered fertile ground for armed groups operating outside state authority. The Mahdi Army that emerged after 2003 showed how readily such forces could take root, and sectarian militias played a major role in the upheaval of the mid-to-late 2000s—confounding the U.S. occupation, deepening Iraq’s fault lines, and setting the stage for the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) the following decade.
