http://www.lobelog.com/the-political-foundation-of-the-islamic-states-success/#more-29773

The Political Foundation of the Islamic State’s Success

by Henry Johnson
More so than flaws in the Iraqi army or lack of U.S. support or suicide bombers, the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) owes its stunning victories across Iraq to widespread ambivalence toward violence against the state. This condition of apathy is not new to Iraq. Since the 2003 invasion, many Iraqis have rejected a principal outcome of the country’s democratic trajectory—Shia empowerment. Insurgency has most frequently taken root where tribal constituencies least accept the post-2003 political order. During the U.S. occupation of the now IS-dominated Anbar province, for example, insurgents killed three times as many Americans as in the next deadliest province.http://www.lobelog.com/the-political-foundation-of-the-islamic-states-success/#more-29773