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The John Batchelor Show

2: 6. Ramadi's Infighting and ISIS Infiltration Ramadi saw tragic infighting among Sunni tribal elders utilizing outside powers to increase influence, unable to form coherent political project while US treated them monolithically. Market scenes devolved into

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

News, Arts, Books, Society & Culture

4.52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 19 October 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

6. Ramadi's Infighting and ISIS Infiltration Ramadi saw tragic infighting among Sunni tribal elders utilizing outside powers to increase influence, unable to form coherent political project while US treated them monolithically. Market scenes devolved into chaos with 14 factions fighting simultaneously. After Al-Qaeda's defeat, no one expected jihadis' return, but Maliki's sectarianism and security forces' corruption created societal crack that disciplined ISIS forces infiltrated, while Iran's influence existed since Americans entered Baghdad.

Transcript

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0:31.3

This CBSI on the world with Haith Abdulahad. A stranger in your own city travels in the Middle East long war. It is halfway between Baghdad and Mosul is a city called Ramadi.

0:39.7

We heard about it much in the Sunni awakening of 2007.

0:43.1

Well, it's back, except one witticism that we learn in the telling of this story is that I believe when the women want to,

0:52.7

the women of the Sunni women want to make certain that you're going to have a bad time, they say something like, may you have many sheiks in your clan or your tribe.

1:01.3

What does that mean, Haith? Why do they say that?

1:04.2

It's not only the Sunnis, but it's in every tribal society in Iraq, if women want to curse a woman from another tribe, they say,

1:12.5

may Allah increase the tribal elders in your society? Because the more sheikhs, the more tribal

1:18.2

elders you have in a tribe, the more infighting you have. And every one of them will try to

1:25.1

use outside powers to increase their, you know, their influence.

1:30.3

And this is exactly what's happened at Ramadi, which is to the west.

1:33.7

Baghdad is here, most of us there, Ramadi is to the west.

1:37.5

And, you know, different to me politicians, tribal elders, forces to, you know, some use the power of Maliki to fight

1:48.9

others, some kind of use the power of the jihadis, allied themselves, some align themselves

...

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