Records relating to keyword "Insurgency"

• US presentation on Iran military assistance to Sh'ia fighters (Feb 2007)
  
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  • Security, insurgency, and military tactics
  
  Keywords: Shi'i politics Iran Weapons Insurgency

  This presentation (pdf) is described as the Powerpoint presentation given to journalists by US officials in Baghdad on 11 February 2007 - at a news conference where recordings and photographs were banned - intended to present evidence of Iranian military assistance to Iraqi Sh'ia fighters. It comprises information reportedly from captured Iranian military personnel, and photographs of allegedly Iranian-sourced weaponry.

  The presentation was posted on the McClatchy Newspapers site (see http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/special_packages/iraq/16677416.htm for the story).

• Poll for the US Department of Defense (Sept 2006)
  
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  • Opinion Polls in Iraq
  
  Keywords: Opinion polls Fallujah Insurgency

  John Simpson for the BBC reports a US Department of Defense poll which found that about 75% of Iraq's five million Sunni Muslims now support the armed insurgency against the coalition.

  This compares with 14% in the first opinion poll the Defense Department in 2003. Simpson attributes much of the change to the 2004 attack on Fallujah.

• Iraq's trade unions: Tender shoots in weed-bound soil (04 May 2006)
  
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  • Iraqi Institutions
  
  Keywords: Unions Insurgency

  'The Economist' article on the plight of Iraqis trade unions, who have been targeted by insurgents and the government

• CSIS Report: "Iraq's Evolving Insurgency and the Risk of Civil War" (26 Apr 2006)
  
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  Keywords: Security Strategy Insurgency US US Government

  An in-depth report from Anthony Cordesman at the CSIS.

  This report provides an overview of both how the Iraqi insurgency has moved towards civil conflict from its inception in the spring of 2003 through the first months of 2006, and of the ways in which insurgent tactics and methods have changed over time. It is divided into five general sections:

  • The first section examines Iraq under the rule of Saddam, the immediate post-war aftermath and the development of a violent insurgency in the spring and summer of 2003. It chronicles the insurgency’s inception and how it has evolved from 2003 until 2006 and examines Coalition operations to counter it.

  • The second evaluates insurgent patterns of attacks, and Coalition and Iraqi casualties. It also examines insurgent tactics, methods of attack, and the political, sychological and informational warfare lessons from 2003-2006.

  • The third section assesses the composition of the nsurgency including Iraqi Sunni Arabs (both “Islamists and “Nationalists”), foreign jihadists, and the uncertain status of the Shi’ites. It also addresses the degree to which these factions cooperate or conflict and the role of Iraqi’s neighbors in the insurgency.

  • The fourth considers Iraqi views of the threat.

  • The fifth and final section offers an assessment of probable outcomes of the conflict and lessons of the war.

• In Their Own Words: Reading the Iraqi Insurgency (15 Feb 2006)
  
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  Keywords: Security Insurgency

  Report from the International Crisis Group. Full report available in pdf and MS Word formats.

  "In Iraq, the U.S. fights an enemy it hardly knows. Its descriptions have relied on gross approximations and crude categories (Saddamists, Islamo-fascists and the like) that bear only passing resemblance to reality. This report, based on close analysis of the insurgents’ own discourse, reveals relatively few groups, less divided between nationalists and foreign jihadis than assumed, whose strategy and tactics have evolved (in response to U.S. actions and to maximise acceptance by Sunni Arabs), and whose confidence in defeating the occupation is rising. An anti-insurgency approach primarily focused on reducing the insurgents’ perceived legitimacy – rather than achieving their military destruction, decapitation and dislocation – is far more likely to succeed."

• Poll by PIPA finds support for timed withdrawal, and for attacks on Coalition troops (Jan 2006)
  
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  • Opinion Polls in Iraq
  
  Keywords: Opinion polls Insurgency

  Opinions on withdrawal: Asked what they would like the newly elected Iraqi government to ask the US-led forces to do, 70% of Iraqis favor setting a timeline for the withdrawal of US forces. This number divides evenly between 35% who favor a short time frame of “within six months” and 35% who favor a gradual reduction over two years. Just 29% say it should “only reduce US-led forces as the security situation improves in Iraq.”

  Opinions on attacks on Coalition forces: Overall, 47% say they approve of “attacks on US-led forces” (23% strongly). There are huge differences between ethnic groups. An extraordinary 88% of Sunnis approve, with 77% approving strongly. Forty-one percent of Shia approve as well, but just 9% strongly. Even 16% of Kurds approve (8% strongly).

  Poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland and was fielded by KA Research Limited/D3 Systems, Inc.

  Polling was conducted January 2-5 with a nationwide sample of 1,150, which included an oversample of 150 Arab Sunnis (hereafter simply called Sunnis).

  Full report is here

  Questionnaire is here

• Military Review: 'Changing the Army for Counterinsurgency Operations' (Dec 2005)
  
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  Keywords: Insurgency Security

  Biting criticism of the US Army's performance in Iraq, published in Military Review by senior British officer Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster.

  The BBC News report gives some US reaction.

• A face and a name: civilian victims of insurgent groups in Iraq (Oct 2005)
  
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  • Security, insurgency, and military tactics
  
  Keywords: Insurgency Humanitarian situation

  Human Rights Watch report centered around insurgent groups' own justifications for their attacks on civilians, and an account of the impact they have on their victims.

• Poll for the UK Ministry of Defence (Aug 2005)
  
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  • Opinion Polls in Iraq
  
  Keywords: Opinion polls Insurgency Security

  Secret poll reported in October 2005 in the Daily Telegraph.

  • "up to 65 per cent of Iraqi citizens support attacks and fewer than one per cent think Allied military involvement is helping to improve security in their country."

  • Carried out by "an Iraqi university research team".

• Amnesty International Report 'In cold blood: abuses by armed groups' (25 July 2005)
  
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  Keywords: Amnesty Human rights Insurgency

  'Armed groups opposed to the US-led multinational force and Iraq's government are showing utter disdain for the lives of Iraqi civilians and others, continuing a pattern of war crimes and crimes against humanity'

  See also the Press Release.

• Improving security in Iraq (Senate committee hearing) (18 July 2005)
  
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  • Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
  
  Keywords: Security Insurgency

  This hearing considered four questions:

  1. Should the coalition revise its current counterinsurgency strategy?
  2. Could the US press its allies to provide more manpower?
  3. Should the US reprioritize the training schedule of Iraqi forces?
  4. Should the President change the force structure of the US presence in Iraq?

  Witnesses were Ken Pollack (Brookings), Barry McCaffrey, and Anthony Cordesman (CSIS)

• 'Vicious Circle: The Dynamics of Occupation and Resistance in Iraq (Part I)' (18 May 2005)
  
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  • Security, insurgency, and military tactics
  
  Keywords: Security Insurgency Opinion polls

  An analysis of Iraqi public opinion data and interviews by the Commonwealth Institute.

  The analysis suggests that coalition military activity is contributing substantially to anti-coalition sentiments. A "vicious circle" is indicated, whereby counter-insurgent operations create support for the insurgency. The report tracks coalition military activity and relates it to Iraqi discontent and insurgent activity. Differences among Iraqi communities are also assessed.

  Executive summary

• Iraq's Evolving Insurgency (16 May 2005)
  
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  Keywords: Insurgency Security

  Working draft of a book by Anthony Cordesman, examining security issues in Iraq. Includes some detail on the politics and organisatin of militant groups in Iraq. Updated versions may be available from the CSIS Iraq page