Eid al-Adha: a time for Iraq to remember its war dead

[al-Hasani]

Seems like it's true the locals are victims of this, they aren't welcoming IS, the only thing I don't understand is how they can roll into Sunni area's that easily whilst Shi'a areas have a lot of resistance to ISIS when both are against IS as the link shows, none of them are waiting to live under IS.

BBC News - Iraq crisis: 180,000 flee IS advance in Anbar, UN says

Mate, this has been ongoing since June this year when ISIS captured large parts of Al-Anbar and Mosul fell in their hands. Since 2003 the Sunni Arabs have suffered the most. Even after the American withdrew in December 2011 until June 2014 the most volatile regions were those inhabited by Sunni Arabs together with Baghdad and Babil.

The locals as I have always wrote to you are also the ones making the most sacrifices in the fight against ISIS.

The problem is that there are many different fractions. It's not a united front. You have pro-government people and tribes, anti-government people and tribes who are NOT ISIS supporters but don't want to see the Iraqi army in their villages, towns and lands etc. and then you have tribes and people who are both against the government and who rather want ISIS around than the government that they mistrust.

You also have many former Sahwat members who were not paid by the corrupted and incompetent clown Al-Maliki and they have very few incitements to trust the government. Abadi must regain the trust of the locals again and win them over. Once he does that ISIS will be gone. Anyway most locals can't stand a chance against ISIS as they are not as well armed. Don't forget that at least 66% of the populations of all those provinces, towns, villages are made up by children, women and elders. They can't even fight ISIS even if they wanted. There are also those who just mind their own business as long as ISIS does not kill them or their families or destroy their property. They might not like ISIS but they surely don't like the government either.

When we discuss such issues we just have a tendency to say Iraqi Sunni Arab, Iraqi Shia Arab this and that like those two groups were united in everything. There are many different opinions in those two groups, political groups etc. But it is easier for many commentators to just look at it this way. Saves them from the headache.

That's why I don't take most media seriously outside of the very detailed media that knows what they write (mostly local) and not the one that is out to get the most publicity.