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Peace Companies
Saraya al-Salam () is an Iraqi Shia militia formed in 2014. They are a part of the Popular Mobilization Forces and are a partial revival of the Mahdi Army. The name Saraya al- Salam means "Peace Companies", to signify this the militia also uses a dove as a heraldic symbol. The group's name, together with its logo – which features a dove flying in front of an Iraqi flag – reflects Sadr's effort to maintain a peace with both Sunnis and the Iraqi central government. As of 2022, the group's operations are frozen, although it is still active but in smaller scale. History Muqtada al-Sadr, son of an anti-Saddam activist Muhammad-Sadiq al-Sadr who, after his newspaper ''al-Hamza'' was shut down by Coalition Provisional Authority, founded his first militia organization Mahdi Army that got support from both Sunni and Shia elements of Iraqi society uniting them against the coalition forces in occasions such as First Battle of Fallujah and Siege of Sadr City, the slogans and banner ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doves As Symbols
Doves, typically domestic pigeons white in plumage, are used in many settings as symbols of peace, freedom, or love. Doves appear in the symbolism of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and paganism, and pacifist groups. Ancient religions In ancient Mesopotamia, doves were prominent animal symbols of Inanna-Ishtar, the goddess of love, sexuality, and war. Doves are shown on cultic objects associated with Inanna as early as the beginning of the third millennium BC. Lead dove figurines were discovered in the temple of Ishtar at Aššur, dating to the thirteenth century BC, and a painted fresco from Mari, Syria shows a giant dove emerging from a palm tree in the temple of Ishtar, indicating that the goddess herself was sometimes believed to take the form of a dove. In the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', Utnapishtim releases a dove and a raven to find land; the dove merely circles and returns. Only then does Utnapishtim send forth the raven, which does not return, and Utnapishtim concludes the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salam
''As-salamu alaykum'' (, ), also written ''salamun alaykum'' and typically rendered in English as ''salam alaykum'', is a greeting in Arabic that means 'Peace be upon you'. The (, meaning 'peace') has become a religious salutation for Muslims worldwide when greeting each other, though its use as a greeting predates Islam, and is also common among Arabic speakers of other religions (such as Arab Christians and Mizrahi Jews). In colloquial speech, often only , 'peace', is used to greet a person. This shorter greeting, (), has come to be used as the general salutation in other languages as well. The typical response to the greeting is ( , 'and peace be upon you'). In the Quranic period one repeated ''as-salamu alaykum'', but the inverted response is attested in Arabic not long after its appearance in Hebrew. The phrase may also be expanded to ( , 'Peace be upon you, as well as the mercy of God and His blessings'). The use of ''salām'' as an Arabic greeting dates at least t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Battle Of Tikrit (March–April 2015)
The Second Battle of Tikrit was a battle in which Iraqi Security Forces recaptured the city of Tikrit (the provincial capital of the Saladin Governorate) from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Iraqi forces consisted of the Iraqi Army and the Popular Mobilization Forces (Iraq), Popular Mobilization Forces (the bulk of the ground forces, consisting of Shia militiamen and also some Sunni tribesmen), receiving assistance from Iran's Quds Force officers on the ground, and air support from the American, British, and French air forces. The city of Tikrit, located in the central part of the Saladin Governorate in north of Baghdad and Samarra and lying adjacent to the Tigris River, was lost to ISIL during the huge strides made by the group during its Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014), offensive in June 2014. After its capture, ISIL retaliated with the Camp Speicher massacre, massacre at Camp Speicher, a nearby training facility for the Iraqi Air Force. After months of p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jurf Al Nasr
Jurf al-Nasr () is a small town in Iraq, located about 60 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. It is near Musayyib and approximately 80 kilometers east of Fallujah. The town was formerly known as Jurf al-Sakhar (). At the start of 2014, Jurf al-Sakhar had about 89,000 residents, mostly Sunni Muslims from the al-Janabi tribe. The former residents are now largely refugees in Fallujah, Yusofiyya, Al Musayyib, and the current population is about 15,000. History In the 1990s, Jurf al-Sakhar housed a large military complex, including the Al Hakum facility, at one time Iraq's most sophisticated and largest biological weapons production factory. During the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, Jurf al-Sakhar was one of the first towns under the "concerned citizens" program, in which the local populace was paid to secure the town via checkpoints along its roads, funded by money supplied by the U.S. military. The influx of money led to an almost instantaneous decrease in violence in the area. It was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sadr City
Sadr City (), formerly known as Al-Thawra () and Saddam City (), is a suburb district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It was built in 1959 by Prime Minister of Iraq, Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim, Abdul Karim Qassim and named Al-Rafidain District. After the US-led invasion of Iraq and the toppling of Saddam, it was unofficially renamed Sadr City after Ayatollah Muhammad al-Sadr (jurist), Muhammad al-Sadr. Sadr City – or more accurately Administrative districts in Baghdad#Thawra District, Thawra District () – is one of nine administrative districts in Baghdad. A public housing project neglected by Saddam Hussein, Sadr City holds around 1 million residents. History The City (or District) was built in 1959 by Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim in response to grave housing shortages in Baghdad. At the time it was officially named Al-Rafidain District (), but was colloquially called Al-Thawra () and so it came to be known by that name. It provided housing for Baghdad's urban poor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Islamic State
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied significant territory in Iraq and Syria in 2013, but lost most of it in 2019. In 2014, the group proclaimed itself to be a worldwide caliphate, and claimed religious, political, and military authority over all Muslims worldwide, a claim not accepted by the vast majority of Muslims. It is List of designated terrorist groups, designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations and many countries around the world, including Muslim world, Muslim countries. By the end of 2015, its self-declared caliphate ruled an area with a population of about 12 million, where they enforced their extremist interpretation of Islamic law, managed an annual budget exceeding billion, and commanded more than 30,000 fighters. After a grinding co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnegie Middle East Center
The Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, previously known as The Carnegie Middle East Center (CMEC) is a think tank and research center dealing with public policy in the Middle East. It was established in Beirut, Lebanon in November 2006 by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The center is part of the network of Carnegie regional centers, including the Carnegie Moscow Center, the Carnegie–Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing, and Carnegie Europe, located in Brussels. In 2009 and 2015, the University of Pennsylvania’s Global “Go-To Think Tanks” annual report listed the Carnegie Middle East Center as the number one think tank in the Middle East and North Africa. Background The Carnegie Middle East Center is an independent policy research institute based in Beirut, Lebanon, and part of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The center's scope of work includes political and economic developments in the Arab world, Turkey and Iran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iraqi Government
The government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as a democratic, parliamentary republic with Islam as the official state religion. The government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as well as numerous independent commissions. Federalism in Iraq Federalism law Article 114 of the Constitution of Iraq provided that no new region may be created before the Iraqi National Assembly has passed a law that provides the procedures for forming the regionA lawwas passed in October 2006 after an agreement was reached with the Iraqi Accord Front to form the constitutional review committee and to defer implementation of the law for 18 months. Legislators from the Iraqi Accord Front, Sadrist Movement and Islamic Virtue Party all opposed the bill. Creating a new region Under the Federalism Law a region can be created out of one or more existing governorates or two or more existing regions. A governorate can also join an ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Groups (Iraq)
Special Groups (SGs) is a designation given by the United States military to the cell-based Shi'a paramilitary organizations operating within Iraq. According to the United States these groups are funded, trained, and armed by the Iranian Quds Force, part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to the United States Department of Defense, 603 American troops in total were confirmed to have been killed by IRGC-backed Shia militias (Special Groups) during the Iraq War. According to American General Kevin J. Bergner, the Special Groups receive between 750,000 and 3,000,000 dollars funding per month from the Quds Force. These groups are separate from but allied with the Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr. The distinction between these groups and the Mahdi Army became more clear when al-Sadr called for a ceasefire at the end of August 2007 following Mahdi Army clashes with Iraqi Security Forces in Karbala but the Special Groups continued fighting. After the Mahdi Army's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siege Of Sadr City
The siege of Sadr City was a blockade of the Shi'a district of northeastern Baghdad carried out by US and Iraqi government forces in an attempt to destroy the main power base of the insurgent Mahdi Army in Baghdad. The siege began on 4 April 2004 – later dubbed "Black Sunday" – with an uprising against the Coalition Provisional Authority following the government banning of a newspaper published by Muqtada Al-Sadr's Sadrist Movement. The most intense periods of fighting in Sadr City occurred during the first uprising in April 2004, the second in August the same year, during the sectarian conflict that gripped Baghdad in late 2006, during the Iraq War troop surge of 2007, and during the spring fighting of 2008. Background On March 28, 2004, the US leader of the Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq, Paul Bremer, ordered the 60-day closure of '' Al Hawza'', a newspaper published by Muqtada al-Sadr's group, on the charges of inciting violence against occupation authoriti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Battle Of Fallujah
The First Battle of Fallujah, code-named Operation Vigilant Resolve, was an American-led operation of the Iraq War against militants in Fallujah as well as an attempt to apprehend or kill the perpetrators of the killing of four U.S. contractors in March 2004. The chief catalyst for the operation was the highly publicized killing and mutilation of four Blackwater USA private military contractors,Operation Vigilant Resolve, GlobalSecurity.org. and the killings of five American soldiers in Habbaniyah a few days earlier. The battle, and especially the images of Iraqi civilians killed or injured in the fighting, caused many Iraqis to become resentful of the US presence. Western journalists found that even some Iraqis who previously supported the US invasion, and welcomed American state-building efforts, became increasingly alienated and skeptical of such promises. Background Fallujah had generally benefited economically under Saddam Hussein, and many residents were employed a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multi-National Force – Iraq
The Multi-National Force – Iraq (MNF–I), often referred to as the Coalition forces, was a U.S.-led military command during the Iraq War from 2004 to 2009. The vast majority of MNF-I was made up of United States Army forces. However it also supervised British, Australian, Polish, Spanish, and other countries' forces. It replaced the previous force, Combined Joint Task Force 7, on 15 May 2004. It was significantly reinforced during the Iraq War troop surge of 2007. MNF-I was reorganized into its successor, United States Forces – Iraq, on 1 January 2010. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, which does humanitarian work and has a number of guards and military observers, has also operated in Iraq since 2003. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Iraq was not a part of the MNF-I, but a separate entity. The NATO Training Mission – Iraq, was in Iraq from 2004 to December 2011, where it trained the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police. History The MNF-I's objectives, as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
