Dismantling Iraq

"We are here to fight any occupation, whether American or Iranian. We have a common enemy with ISIS now, and for this we are fighting together."
"Maliki must first be deposed. Then we demand the fragmentation of Iraq into three autonomous regions, with Sunnis, Shia and Kurds sharing resources equally."
"Is it possible that a few hundred ISIS jihadists can take the whole of Mosul? No. All the Sunni tribes have come out against Maliki. And there are parts of the military, Baathists from the time of Saddam Hussein, clerics, everyone came out for the oppression that we have been suffering."
"Those who are 18 today were children ten years ago. They grew up in a hateful environment. They have seen too much oppression and violence; first by the Americans, and then by the Iraqi government who came to power on an American tank. Now, they are eager to bite off the head of the snake."
Sheik Ahmed Al-Dabash, 47, senior commander, Sunni insurgency

^{Ahmad Dabash is a founding member of the Islamic Army (Sam Tarling/The Telegraph)}

There in a nutshell is the conundrum of how a relatively limited number of Islamist jihadis could be capable of routing a well-armed military to take possession of a city of one and a half million people. The Iraqi military guarding Mosul fled not only because a thousand ISIL terrorists were confronting them, with their fearsome reputation, but because they were aware that the Sunni residents of Mosul were prepared to take up arms against them, and those Sunnis who were in uniform with them in the mostly Shiite armed forces would also not support the regime that had oppressed them.

Sheik Ahmed Al-Dabash, one of the founders of the Islamic Army of Iraq comprised solely of Sunni Iraqis, had fought the invasion of Iraq in 2003. He was a notorious figure during the American occupation of the country, organizing militias to battle the U.S.-led occupation forces. He had managed to mobilize tens of thousands of men, his actions identifying him as a formidable opponent, causing the Americans to view him as a key terrorist, in 2006.

He has spent the last ten years masterminding the Sunni insurgency with his Islamic Army of Iraq. He states that if Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki does not step down from office "then there is no doubt that we are moving on Baghdad. We will go all the way" he threatens. He and his men have made common cause with the Islamic State of Iraq & Al-Sham (ISIS) for the last six months, paving the way for the onslaught that has now so successfully routed the Iraqi military and taken towns and cities on the border with Syria and Jordan.

They have succeeded in taking the largest oil refinery in Iraq and now also control the source of fuel and the power-grid for Baghdad. Next, is the Baghdad airport. What happens then not only to Baghdad but the $1-Billion American embassy compound and its thousands of American staff? Is it likely the several hundred 'advisers' that Washington sent to Baghdad can succeed in talking ISIS and the Islamic Army of Iraq out of occupying Baghdad?

Militants stand with a captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint outside the Beiji refinery. Associated Press

This comes at a time when the Islamists have also taken possession of Saddam Hussein's old chemical-weapons production facility at Al Muthanna, about 45 miles northwest of Baghdad, though American officials claim that the stockpiled weapons are old and contaminated. That they have the upper hand is without dispute. The Iraqi government is wholly at fault in this situation for shutting out the Sunnis and claiming all benefits for Shiite Iraqis.

Even Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani's thinly veiled criticism of Prime Minister Al-Maliki's poor judgement causing this crisis comes too late. Sheik Dabash claims that recent battles represent a sectarian "awakening" of Sunni Iraqis who have too long suffered oppression. And though it is entirely likely that at some future date his military will see fit to confront ISIS for the greater good of a country that deserves better than what they threaten to impose, that time has not yet arrived.