Various explanations have been posited to make sense of the ongoing Iraqi Army operation codenamed Sawlat al-Fursan (Attack of the Knights), which has been directed against the Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) throughout the south of Iraq. Marc Lynch summarizes the various theories that have gained traction in explaining the motivations for launching the Basra offensive at this juncture, and most of the more persuasive arguments focus on the motivations and rationales of the Iraqi actors:
As part of his own theorizing, Reidar Vissar notes helpfully that "there are probably few spots on this planet where the search for mono-causality is more futile than Basra." Fair enough.
Keep reading for free!
Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:
Or, Subscribe now to get full access.
Already a subscriber? Log in here .
What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:
A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:
- Immediate and instant access to WPR’s fully searchable library of 16,000+ articles
- Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday
- Weekly in-depth reports on important issues and countries
- Daily links to must-read news and analysis from top sources around the globe, curated by our keen-eyed team of editors
- The Weekly Wrap-Up email, with highlights of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
- Completely ad-free reading.
And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.