Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) is one of a number of
underground Baathist, Islamist, militant, or mujaheddin, organizations formed in
Iraq following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by United States and coalition military
forces and the subsequent collapse of the Baathist government headed by Saddam
Hussein. Although it carries an Islamic title, the group is thought to be the
largest militant group that consists of former Baathists and has been labelled
as "resistance" by Iraq's Sunni Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi despite regular
attacks against Iraqi soldiers and policemen and Shi'ite militias such as the
Mahdi Army and the Badr Organization.
The precise details about the emergence of the IAI are unclear although it is
generally assumed that the group was established sometime during the summer of
2003 to fight coalition forces. When it first formed it appeared to have the
same ideologies as Al-Qaeda, mainly because it used kidnapping as a means of
pursuing its goals. The group also threatened to target the January 2005
elections, although it didn't carry out any such attack.
However, other events have lead people to believe that IAI is different from
Al-Qaeda, and that it has some kind of a trend towards the Muslim Brotherhood
movement. A report on Al-Jazeera's Arabic website said that the group is Salafi
in general, but includes members of a Muslim Brotherhood background.
Unlike most resistance movement organizations today the IAI does not have
salafist tendencies, its primary focus and goal being the expulsion of foreign
troops from Iraq. A November 28, 2004 Washington Post interview with the group's
current leader, Ishmael Jubouri, stated that the IAI was predominantly comprised
of Iraqis (Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, and Arabs) trying to force foreign troops out
of Iraq. The Terrorism Monitor put out by The Jamestown Foundation confirms some
of what Jubouri was claiming. In a March 2005 article it states the group is
composed primarily of Sunnis with a much smaller, but still present, Shiite
congregation and, in general, is "[an] inclusive Islamic organization with Iraqi
nationalist tendencies." In a Nov. 2006 Al-Jazeera interview, spokesman Ibrahim
al-Shamary expanded on who the IAI considers foreign troops, "There are two
occupations in Iraq. Iran on one side through the militias which they control
and through direct involvement with the national guard and the intelligence
services, that causes the killing and destruction of the Sunnis... And then
there is the American occupation which destroys the Iraqi people."
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