In June 2014, Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq fell into the hands of Daesh.

Iraq sleepwalked into the Kuwait war in1990 with the US pulling the strings behind the scenes. In fact, then US ambassador in Iraq met Saddam Hussein before the invasion of Kuwait and assured the Iraqi dictator that Washington would stay out of the developments no matter what, tacitly approving the Iraqi invasion of the neighboring country. However, when things got out of hand, the US viewed Saddam as a liability in the region and it sought to remove its former strongman.

In full swing, Deash takes over many important cities across Iraq. The terrorist group sells oil extracted from oil-rich region in the country to finance itself. Iraq is broken and the security forces cannot defeat this bloodthirsty group. At this point, encouraged by Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s jihad fatwa, people rush to defend the country. The flow of volunteers finally leads to the formation of the Popular Mobilization Forces or the PMF. The organization, helped and assisted by the Islamic Republic of Iran, soon turns into a powerful entity in the fight against terrorism. With the help of General Qassem Soleimani, the PMF defeats Daesh on several battlefields, liberates major cities and prepares the ground for the group’s final defeat. But that’s not the end of the story. The Americans are trying to come back to Iraq under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Things take a dramatic turn again…

After Daesh reared its head in Iraq, revered cleric Ayatollah Sistani issued a historic decree calling on the people to rise up against the militant group. The popular forces united with the Iraqi army to counter the foreign-sponsored militants. Iran also rushed to the rescue and once again General Soleimani had a pivotal role.

The American occupation of Iraq, which happened right after the fall of Saddam Hussein, brought no traces of democracy the Americans had promised to the Iraqi people. Instead, all they witnessed was the tearing of the country with religious and sectarian conflicts through the policy of divide and rule. The terrorist attacks of various organizations came to haunt the country for the years to come. In the absence of a powerful central government, the hastened withdrawal of US troops from Iraq created a breeding ground for extremism and terrorism. Terrorist groups reared their ugly heads here and there throughout the country. Against such a backdrop, the resistance movement rose to confront the danger that was wreaking havoc in the country.

Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, in his final days in power, clutched at straws and was even willing to give up the country’s natural resources to the US to reverse his fate. But the US eventually invaded Iraq under the pretext that Saddam possessed WMDs. As the next step, the US sought to cause sectarian rifts in the country to push its plans forward. However, it faced a bigger obstacle; the popular resistance forces.

Iraq, suffering from sanctions from outside and dictatorship from within, was in a desperate situation in the 1990s. Dissent at home was growing and an implosion was imminent. It was during those days when the popular forces were emerging.