Intelligence agencies abound, spread throughout the country as administratively independent entities that answer to the Ministries of Defense and Interior, the National Security Advisory, counterterrorism agencies and army intelligence, as well as local governments and special forces units. This expansive spectrum duplicates instead of complements technical and administrative responsibilities, leading to further lack of coordination among the intelligence agencies, exacerbated by a lack of a unified vision to address the dangers that threaten the country.
Despite this construct of separate and independent agencies having proved to be a failure created by the underlying political crisis, Iraqi political forces continue to refuse to integrate and unify the work of the intelligence services. The forces themselves reject the adoption of measures whereby competency, instead of partisan loyalty and ethnic or sectarian affiliations, serve as criteria for appointment. These factors have directly contributed to Iraq’s inability to successfully confront extremist factions.
Given Iraq's domestic political situation, its diplomacy has also failed to exploit common interests with its neighbors and the rest of the world, rendering intelligence-related cooperation ineffectual despite the war against extremist groups having taken on an international dimension.
Furthermore, this inability to bolster intelligence cooperation with world and regional actors was mainly due to political considerations steeped in disorder, imbalances and a lack of productive endeavors. Effective intelligence cooperation was further hampered by the prevailing lack of understanding and regional interference in the Iraqi crisis.
In this regard, one should not forget that IS, a transnational organization, has an intelligence arm and interests that intersect with some regional and even international policies. For example, a Jan. 16 report by the al-Mayadeen channel claimed that Turkey’s interests are represented by the support provided to IS, the group's armament and the facilitation of IS fighters' ability to cross borders.
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