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
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“This fantastic state of mind, of a humanity that has outrun its ideas, is matched by a political scene in the grotesque style, with Salvation Army methods, hallelujahs and bell-ringing and dervishlike repetition of monotonous catchwords, until everybody foams at the mouth. Fanaticism turns into a means of salvation, enthusiasm into epileptic ecstacy, politics becomes an opiate for the masses, a proletarian eschatology; and reason veils her face.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)