An excellent analysis of Iraq appears in Boston Review currently.

If you are bewildered by the welter of factions and the shifting players in that part of the world, I suggest you read "On the Ground in Iraq" by Nir Rosen. He brings a patience to his explanation of the Iraqi chaos that is somehow beyond American corporate media. It makes me wonder if many of the American news anchors (which the Brits more accurately refer to as "news readers", you know) would be capable of such clear analysis...I have to doubt it... BTW, Mr. Rosen accepts as a foregone conclusion that Iraq is in a state of civil war and has been for several years.