More than two years after the U.S. withdrawal and nearly a decade after the U.S. forces ousted Al Qaida in Iraq (AQI) from Fallujahh, Iraq is still grappling with an escalating sectarian crisis between the Shia-led government, but also an increasingly disaffected Sunni minority. Even more menacingly, however, AQI has relabelled itself as the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant (ISIS) and has taken over of parts of Ramadi and Fallujah in the notoriously rebellious Sunni-dominated Anbar province. While the Iraqi army managed to regain parts of the provincial capital, Ramadi, it has so far failed to make any headway in Fallujahh. Although Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has repeatedly warned that the army was on the verge of storming Fallujahh, he has so far refrained, fearing that civilian casualties would trigger a fierce backlash by tribal leaders backing the army. Maliki, asserted on February 5th that the […]