This special report from Revolution Observer analyses the background and emerging trends from the uprising in Iraq. Part 1 looks at the background and conditions that have led to the uprising. By Idrees Devries Since the beginning of 2014 the central government of Iraq has slowly but steadily lost control over substantial parts of the country. On the 4 th of January 2014 rebels took control of Fallujah and parts of Ramadi. The Iraqi army fought back, but the rebellion nevertheless spread both northwards and westwards, until on the 10 th of June the Iraqi army abandoned its bases in and around Mosul and Tikrit in the north of the country and had to begin preparations to defend the capital Baghdad against an approaching rebel army. In the international media the Al Qaeda spin-off “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ( ISIS )” is portrayed as the driving force behind this rebellion. While the analyses of the events are multiple, there
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