Following the Sunni Arab tribal militias operations – the Sahwa (Awakening), which was planned and supervised by the US forces in Iraq led by Gen. David Petraeus since the fall of 2007 — the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which was described as the Iraqi branch of Al Qaeda, issued two strategic documents. The first was issued in early 2010, coined “a strategic plan for strengthening ISI’s political position”, consisting of a lengthy text, over 50 pages. The other was titled “The Demolition of Walls”. It was an audio recording by ISI leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in July 2012. It was his first audio message since he took leadership of the organization in May 2010, following the death of its former leader Abu Omar AlBaghdadi in April 2010. This audio message highlighted the new strategic visions of ISI and differs greatly from the first document.
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