This article (tip to Stand-To!) is a good look at the complex nature of our enemies:
According to the Pentagon, several conflicts are occurring simultaneously:
- The Sunni extremist insurgency against U.S. and Iraqi government forces, mostly in central, western and northern Iraq.
- Sunni extremists versus Shiite extremists for control of Baghdad and Diyala provinces, characterized by suicide car bombings, assassinations, kidnapping and murder, mostly of civilians. Fighting is primarily between al-Qaida in Iraq and the Madhi Army, a radical Shiite militia.
- Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen vying for control of oil-rich Kirkuk and other cities in northern Iraq.
- Factional Shiite fighting for control of southern Iraq, also rich in oil. The struggle is mostly between the Madhi Army and the Badr Organization, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the country’s largest political party.
- Al-Qaida in Iraq versus Sunni tribesmen who have split from the group in western Anbar province.
Added to the mix are Iran and Syria. The Pentagon accuses Iran of supplying Shiite militias with money, training and weapons, including explosively formed penetrators, powerful roadside bombs that can slice through the thickest U.S. armor. U.S. officials accuse Syria of providing safe haven to senior Baathists, and say Syria also serves as the primary conduit for foreign Sunni militants filtering into Iraq.
Of course, while this is a complex enemy, if the enemy wasn't splintered, our goal would be to split them apart. So don't go all loopy in panicking over a state that we'd dream of if we fought a monolithic enemy fighting a coordinated campaign against us and the Iraqi government.
Let's just keep working through the list of enemies.
