The security vacuum created by the disbanding of the Iraqi army did not only give rise to these Shiite militia groups; it also contributed to the emergence of Al-Qaida’s branch in Iraq and its successor, ISIS — both rooted in the Sunni sectarian landscape. I recall meeting highly trained Iraqi officers who felt humiliated and abandoned, forced to remain at home without salaries or the means to support their families. Many ultimately joined the insurgency and militias spreading across the country, driven by what they viewed as an occupation of their land and an unjustified war that stripped them of dignity, livelihood and purpose.