The speed with which large swathes of Iraqi territory have fallen to a relatively small force of armed militias begs the question as to how this was possible. The Iraqi armed forces were numerically much superior to the groups who took over towns such as Mosul in the north. The army actually melted away. This cannot be explained simply by referring to armed Islamic groups. Something deeper is going on.

On Tuesday, the militant Islamist group ISIS captured Mosul, one of the key cities in Northern Iraq and then proceeded South towards Baghdad, capturing several important cities on the way. Hundreds of thousands have already fled fearing their lives under the rule of this reactionary group. This spectre of barbarism rising on the horizon, is the direct result of the cynical adventures of American imperialism.

On 11th January 2014, Ariel Sharon - the former Israeli army general and Prime Minister - died after spending eight years in a coma. For analysis on the life and role of this reactionary figure, we draw our readers' attention towards two articles, both published in January 2006 at the time when Sharon entered his long comatose period.