The insurgency in Iraq is extremely complex and ever changing. It ranges from common street thugs to foreign born al-Qaeda suicide bombers, from Iraqi nationalistic Iraqi groups to Hezbollah and Qods Force advisers. To generalize the whole insurgency and then try to draw conclusions from those generalizations would be unwise. The tactics and goals differ greatly from group to group.

The initial invasion in 2003 and the toppling of Hussein regime gave rise to a number of nationalistic groups. The Sunnis in the western portion of Iraq formed groups such as the 1920s Revolutionary Brigades and The Islamic Army of Iraq. The ultimate goal of these Iraqi nationalistic groups was the withdrawal of U.S. forces and coalition forces to build an Islamic State. Groups such as these turned to al-Qaeda for assistence--but al-Qaeda had a different goal in mind. A large number of citizens and some nationalistic groups have since turned on al-Qaeda due to the strong arm tactics al-Qaeda employs such as beheading sheikhs and murdering innocent civilians. In al-Anbar provice--the orginal headquarters for al-Qaeda--in Salah ad-Din provice, in Diyala province, and elsewhere, Iraqis have been forming coalitions of tribes to fight al-Qaeda. Groups such as the 1920s Revolutionary Brigades who were at one time fighting our forces, have turned to us for help in fighting al-Qaeda. The surge coupled with the rising up of the Iraqi people have beaten back al-Qaeda, leaving them no major population center that is an al-Qaeda safe heaven today.

As far as Shiite groups go, the most powerful is Jaish al-Mahdi (JAM for short or The Mahdi Army in English). JAM is backed by neighboring Iran who helps train, equip, and fund this group. Along with especially powerful IEDs known as Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFPs), anti-aircraft missiles, and other weapons, Iran sends over advisors from Hezbollah and the elite Iranian Qods Force.

Al-Qaeda and "Special Groups" as they are called backed by Iran are fueling much of if not all of the sectarian violence in Iraq today. Between 80 and 90% of all suicide bombings are carried out by foreign born al-Qaeda terrorists. For the most part, these two terrorist groups are the ones conducting the kidnappings, death squads, and suicide bombings.