Some commentators attribute the jihadi onrush on Iraq to Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a prominent Ba’athist figure.
In the Iraqi culture, it is not unlikely that a Ba’athist leader (i.e. secular) should decide to avenge himself by objectively supporting a sectarian religious group.
The problem is that al-Duri was reported to have died of leukemia in 2005, and no photograph of him has surfaced ever since. He would now be 72 years old.

• The governor of Nineveh province, Atheel al-Nujaifi, opened the door to the jihadists, ordered the army to disperse and urged the people to submit.
Earlier this month, Atheel al-Nujaifi was in Turkey. There he was personally received by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Hakan Fidan, the head of MIT (National Intelligence Agency).

• The Atlanticist and Gulf media have started portraying the events in Iraq as a revolt against the government of al-Maliki. From this angle, it paints the ISIL as one of the many components of a large Sunni Popular Movement (which is absolutely false). It is therefore to be expected that the same media will soon be selling the image that the few corrupt administrative officials who welcomed the jihadists are part of a "moderate opposition." This mirrors the communication model already applied in Syria where paid members of the National Coalition are presented as forming a "moderate opposition" even though they support the jihadists.

• Despite its hostility towards Ayman al-Zawahiri and the rift with Al Qaeda, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) executed the orders given by Al-Qaeda’s leader on May 2, 2014 and attacked the Iraq. This private army could therefore be reinserted within the international terrorist network.

• The relocation of the main ISIL troops from Syria to Iraq has weakened its position in Syrian territory. To make things worse, the Syrian Arab army has launched an offensive on the city of Rakka, besieged by the jihadists since March 2013.

• The United States withdrew its support to the ISIL on the web on June 19, 2014. Google has removed from its Google Play platform the "Dawn victories" app through which jihadi announcements could be received in real time. Youtube shut down the TV channel "Conquest of Jerusalem," while Twitter has closed several accounts linked to the ISIL.