CRS – Iraq: Politics, Governance, and Human Rights, Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs. June 13, 2014

“Since the 2011 U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq, sectarian and ethnic divisions have widened, fueling a revival of a Sunni Muslim insurgent challenge to Iraq’s stability. Iraq’s Sunni Arab Muslims resent Shiite political domination and perceived discrimination by the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Iraq’s Kurds are embroiled in separate political disputes with the Baghdad government over territorial, political, and economic issues, particularly their intent to separately export large volumes of oil produced in the Kurdish region. The political rifts—which  were contained by the U.S. military presence but have been escalating since late 2011—erupted into a large and sustained uprising beginning in December 2013, led by the radical extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The group and its allies took control of several cities in Anbar Province, including the key city of Fallujah, in early 2014, and began a major offensive that captured Mosul and several other mostly Sunni cities in June 2014. Insurgent violence did not derail the national elections for the Council of Representatives (COR, parliament) held on April 30, 2014, although voting was sparse in some Sunni-dominated areas. Facing divided opponents, Maliki’s slate won the most seats and was expected to retain his post
for another four-year term, although the success of the ISIL offensive in June 2014 has tarnished his image as a strong and effective leader. The violence has exposed severe weaknesses in the 800,000 person Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), which are no longer backed by the U.S. military presence in Iraq. The ISF and related informal security structures put in place during the U.S. intervention in Iraq in 2003-2011 have faltered against the ISIL challenge, and collapsed in the face of the ISIL assault on Mosul in June 2014. At the same time, violence has not affected economic development in Iraq, including oil production levels that reached a new high of 3.6 million barrels per day (mbd) in April 2014.”