Iraq's Sunni Insurgents: Looking Beyond Al Qa'ida

Iraq’s Sunni Insurgents: Looking Beyond Al Qa’ida
	Author: Anthony H. Cordesman Date of Publication: July 16, 2007 Related Research Focus: Middle East & North Africa International Security Experts : Anthony H. Cordesman
	Synopsis: The mix of Iraqi insurgent groups is as complex as ever. Al Qa’ida in Mesopotamia is only one part of a mix of different Sunni Islamist Extremists and more nationalist groups. There is a wide mix of Shi’ite extremists and militias. There are still no reliable estimates of the strength of given groups, or of how many attacks of what kind a given group conducted, who their leadership is many cases, or exactly what they stand for.