The Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) (Arabic: الجيش الإسلامي في العراق,al jaysh al islāmi fī'l-`irāq) is one of a number of underground Islamist militant (or mujahideen) 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 combines Islamism with Iraqi nationalism, and has been labelled as "resistance" by Iraq's Sunni Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi despite regular attacks against Iraqi soldiers and policemen, as well as Shi'ite militias such as the Mahdi Army and the Badr Organization.
Read more about Islamic Army In Iraq: Roots and Ideology, Foreign Hostages, Other Activities, War With Al-Qaeda in Iraq
Famous quotes containing the word army:
“Man is the end of nature; nothing so easily organizes itself in every part of the universe as he; no moss, no lichen is so easily born; and he takes along with him and puts out from himself the whole apparatus of society and condition extempore, as an army encamps in a desert, and where all was just now blowing sand, creates a white city in an hour, a government, a market, a place for feasting, for conversation, and for love.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)