العراقي Iraqi forces

As categorized so brilliantly by Glimpse of Iraq: external-agenda forces; Iraqi-agenda forces; and criminal gangs.

External-Agenda Forces

External-agenda forces include the American administration and the US army, coalition forces, forces with international anti-American agenda (such as Al-Qaeda), countries that wish the US campaign to fail and the US to be bogged in the Iraqi quagmire, Countries of the region serving their own interests.

Iraqi-Agenda Forces

Forces of National Resistance, Baathists, "nationalistic" religious forces and Sectarian forces. This group must also include the two main Kurdish parties and a wide assortment of Iraqi political parties.

Iraqiya List	The former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi heads the secular Iraqiya List, which is another major formation participating in the polls. Mr. Allawi's bloc, having wide cross-sectarian support also has the backing of Sunni Vice-President Tariq Al-Hashimi.
Iraqi National Alliance	Another Shia formation with strong support was the Iraqi National Alliance. The Alliance, which appears to have a pro-Iran slant, includes heavyweights such as Ammar Al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) and the largest Shia party in Iraq. Analysts point out that Mr. Hakim and his followers have recently begun to stress the need for an early exit of U.S. troops from Iraq. Moqtada Al-Sadr, a leading critic of the occupation, is also part of this coalition. His presence imparts a prominent non-sectarian accent to the Alliance.In a Saturday (near 2010 03 07) interview aired by the Iran-based Al Alam television, Mr. Al Sadr said: “I want the Iraqi to serve the Iraqi, whether he is a Kurd, a Shia, a Turkoman or a Sunni or a member of any other Iraqi sect, whether a minority or a majority one.” Observers say that an alliance between Mr. Maliki’s coalition and the Iraqi National Alliance is a post-poll possibility, as neither of the two formations, on their own, may muster a simple majority in Sunday’s poll.
Iraqi Accordance Front
Islamic Resistance in Iraq	In Kufa, a bastion of support for Mr. Sadr in southern Iraq, thousands of videos are still sold in ramshackle shops that celebrate what they call the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, the group’s militia that fought the American military, then turned their guns on Sunni Arabs in the war’s internecine carnage. They offer a relentless cadence of missile strikes, rocket firings and the destruction that ensues, rendered in slow motion and replay. In Sadr City, a Baghdad neighborhood that bears the movement’s name, leaflets circulate accusing a Sunni leader of promising that “no place will be left for the Shiites to rule Iraq.” In Anbar Province, arguably the most sectarian of predominantly Sunni Arab provinces, videos still circulate with pictures of Shiite leaders. “Murderers,” the caption reads. The violence it recounts is almost fetishized — picture after picture of brutalized corpses, smeared with blood, burned by acid and shredded by bullets, drills and knives.NY Times)
State of Law Coalition	The frontrunner was the Shia-supported State of Law Coalition headed by Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. This formation had done well, especially in the southern Shia strongholds, during the provincial council elections held in January 2009. The Prime Minister during that year was credited with improving the general state of security. However, spiralling violence since the second half of 2009 and lack of basic services may now have dented his party's appeal.
Kurdistan Democratic Party	Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party. The KDP + PUK alliance bloc has 53 seats in the current 275-member Parliament.
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan	President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. The KDP + PUK alliance bloc has 53 seats in the current 275-member Parliament.

Criminal Gangs

Pure criminal gangs out for money and the power associated with it, taking advantage of the absence of Law and Order to loot, rob banks, kidnap and murder.

Criminal gangs in the service of any of the above forces willing to pay for their services to bomb, kidnap, sabotage and create chaos.