![Shiite volunteers from Hezbollah Iraq, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against militants of the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), gather together in Baghdad, July 6, 2014. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition should withdraw its support for his bid for a third term and pick another candidate, Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urged, amid parliamentary deadlock over the formation of a new government. Maliki has come under mounting pressur](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/07/RTR3XDKC%20%281%29.jpg/RTR3XDKC%20%281%29.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=cagRobiT)
Haytham Mouzahem is a Lebanese analyst specializing in Middle Eastern and Islamic affairs. On Twitter: @haytham66
![Shiite volunteers from Hezbollah Iraq, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against militants of the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), gather together in Baghdad, July 6, 2014. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition should withdraw its support for his bid for a third term and pick another candidate, Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr urged, amid parliamentary deadlock over the formation of a new government. Maliki has come under mounting pressur](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/07/RTR3XDKC%20%281%29.jpg/RTR3XDKC%20%281%29.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=cagRobiT)
![Hezbollah supporters stand in front of a giant banner of their leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as they listen to his speech, in Aineta village, in south Lebanon March 29, 2014. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday called for domestic support for his militants after a year of growing sectarian violence in Lebanon following the Shi'ite militant group's intervention in the Syrian war. REUTERS/ Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3J41G](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/05/RTR3J41G.jpg/RTR3J41G.jpg?h=c2c5b897&itok=y0YHCm5r)
![Haytham Mouzahem](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Me_pentagon.jpg/Me_pentagon.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=hKyqG7rj)
Haytham Mouzahem
![Members of Islamist Sunni group Jamaat al-Islamiya carry placards as they shout slogans against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad during an anti-government protest, at the port-city of Sidon in south Lebanon August 12, 2011. The placard reads "Oh Islam". REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR2PV16](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/04/RTR2PV16.jpg/RTR2PV16.jpg?h=c2c5b897&itok=Kup5mOUI)
![Haytham Mouzahem](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Me_pentagon.jpg/Me_pentagon.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=hKyqG7rj)
Haytham Mouzahem
![A Darawish Sufi dancer performs a traditional dance to celebrate the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan during the Ajyalouna Festival in Beirut July 30, 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and conducting sexual relations from sunrise to sunset during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY) - RTR2PH1I](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/04/RTR2PH1I.jpg/RTR2PH1I.jpg?h=c2c5b897&itok=-vvFfJaK)
![Haytham Mouzahem](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Me_pentagon.jpg/Me_pentagon.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=hKyqG7rj)
Haytham Mouzahem
![Photographer Mohamed Turjuman shows what he says are pictures that he took of Imam Musa al-Sadr, at his studio in Tyre, southern Lebanon, February 23, 2011. Sadr, the founder of the Shi'ite Amal movement, disappeared with his two companions on a visit to Libya in 1978. The uprising against Muammar Gaddafi has given Sadr's family hope that they may finally find out what happened to him if the Libyan leader is toppled, Rabab al-Sadr told Reuters on February 24, 2011. Picture taken February 23, 2011. REUTERS/](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/04/RTR2J1MP.jpg/RTR2J1MP.jpg?h=c2c5b897&itok=u-68S0Hb)
![Haytham Mouzahem](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Me_pentagon.jpg/Me_pentagon.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=hKyqG7rj)
Haytham Mouzahem
![An Iraqi Shiite scholar (C) lectures his students during a lesson at a religious school for clerics, known in Arabic as Haouza, in the holy city of Najaf, 160 kms (100 miles) south of Baghdad, 05 August 2006. The teaching method at the clerical school in Najaf has not radically changed since its establishment in 1056 AD, with the exception of adding natural sciences subjects to the curriculum. AFP PHOTO/ALI AL-SAADI (Photo credit should read ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/03/93326011.jpg/93326011.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=H5R_GMHK)
![Haytham Mouzahem](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Me_pentagon.jpg/Me_pentagon.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=hKyqG7rj)
Haytham Mouzahem
![Forensic inspectors and Lebanese army soldiers inspect the wreckage of a van at the site of an explosion in Choueifat, south of the capital February 3, 2014. A suicide bomber killed himself and one other person when he detonated explosives in a van in southern Beirut on Monday, a Lebanese security source said. Lebanese television footage showed the chassis of a vehicle with no roof. Smoke rose in the air and debris lay on a street. Body parts, including a head, were on the road. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LE](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/03/RTX186NZ.jpg/RTX186NZ.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=eSzKEh4s)
![Haytham Mouzahem](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Me_pentagon.jpg/Me_pentagon.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=hKyqG7rj)
Haytham Mouzahem
![Cars burn at the site of an explosion in the Shi'ite town of Hermel February 22, 2014. A suicide bomber killed two Lebanese soldiers with a car bomb near an army checkpoint in a Hezbollah stronghold in northeast Lebanon on Saturday, security sources said.The latest bombing, in a country destabilised by the civil war in neighbouring Syria, was the third such attack in recent weeks in Hermel, a predominantly Shi'ite Muslim area near the border with Syria. Fifteen people were wounded. REUTERS/Rami Bleibel (LEB](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/02/RTX19BR2.jpg/RTX19BR2.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=dajHt9j5)
![Haytham Mouzahem](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Me_pentagon.jpg/Me_pentagon.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=hKyqG7rj)
Haytham Mouzahem
![Civilians run from the site of an explosion in the southern suburbs of Beirut February 19, 2014. A large explosion near an Iranian cultural centre in the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital Beirut on Wednesday killed at least four people and wounded 19, security sources said. Security sources said the explosion appeared to have been caused by a car bomb and a motorcycle laden with explosives. REUTERS/Mahmoud Kheir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX1937S](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/02/RTX1937S.jpg/RTX1937S.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=ubCfePtq)
![Haytham Mouzahem](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Me_pentagon.jpg/Me_pentagon.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=hKyqG7rj)
Haytham Mouzahem
![Friends and family members of victims killed in a car bomb attack on Saturday, hold a wreath along with their pictures during a funeral in the Shi'ite town of Hermel February 3, 2014. A suicide car bomber killed three people at a petrol station in a stronghold of the Shi'ite militant Hezbollah movement on Lebanon's northern border on Saturday, the latest sign that Syria's civil war is spilling over into its small neighbour. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is pictured on the left in the banner in fr](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/02/RTX1866Z.jpg/RTX1866Z.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=IqPJErIr)
![Haytham Mouzahem](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Me_pentagon.jpg/Me_pentagon.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=hKyqG7rj)
Haytham Mouzahem
![Women walk past as Lebanese army soldiers, gather at the site of Tuesday's explosion, in the Haret Hreik area in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut January 22, 2014. A suicide bomber killed four people on Tuesday in a residential neighbourhood of southern Beirut known for its support of Shi'ite military and political group Hezbollah, security sources said. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX17PH5](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/01/RTX17PH5.jpg/RTX17PH5.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=94Sg1Ofn)
![Haytham Mouzahem](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Me_pentagon.jpg/Me_pentagon.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=hKyqG7rj)
Haytham Mouzahem
![Haytham Mouzahem](https://www.al-monitor.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/authors/Me_pentagon.jpg/Me_pentagon.jpg?h=55541bb6&itok=hKyqG7rj)
Haytham Mouzahem