More than 40 days since the start of the Anbar battles in western Iraq, the financial and human losses thus far are yet unknown. What has been revealed, however, is that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki agreed to discuss a “peaceful” political solution to the crisis.

The question that ought to be raised today concerns the erroneous analyses that preceded and caused the crisis.

First, it should be emphasized that the Anbar crisis was never a purely military crisis. This is because the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has been in the province for years, as well as in Baghdad, Mosul, Basra and even Najaf.

At the end of the day, when talking about an incredibly complex terrorist organization such as al-Qaeda and its derivatives, one cannot deal with it as a regular army that can be fought by conventional means. Such organizations appear and disappear without even leaving a trace. When conditions make it difficult for them to appear in public, these organizations disperse within different social environments and return to their origins as secret groups.