Well, Nasser is the only one who really tried. Even Saddam, despite his bombast, never really took such things seriously - the seizure of Kuwait, for example, was an Iraqi nationalist dream since Qasim. As for the inscrutable mind of the Arabs - the spectacle of local rulers scrambling for power and advantage to the detriment of the ruled combined with constant and violent intervention by foreign powers is a tableau repeated throughout history, including in the West - the examples of pre-unification Italy, pre-Bismarck Germany, Poland, and other such unhappy lands comes to mind.Just look at all who've tried in the last 60 years or so to assume that position from Nasser forward -- all failed.
Uboat - without violating any OPSEC, could you provide a little more detail in this respect? In your experience, is this viewed primarily as a local rising against corrupt forces imposed by a national government, or is it seen through a sectarian lens: i.e. the Shi'i militias acting through the government are seen as the enemy? What time period are we talking about, and what about the recent movement of AQI-blamed attacks to Salahuddin and Nineveh?Up there, the Sawah has arisen primarily in response to an ineffective/biased/corrupt military and police force.
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