01121nas a2200193   4500000000100000008004100001260001600042653001300058653001300071653000900084653001800093653001000111653001800121100001800139245010600157300000900263490000700272520064800279       2017                            d  cWinter 201710aal-Nusra10aal-Qaida10aIraq10aIslamic State10aSyria10aWar on Terror1 aLars Andersen00aThe Mole and the Mallet: Islamic State and al-Qaeda in the ‘Thirty Years' War’ in the Middle East  a7-240 v163 a<p>This article investigates the developments of al-Qaida and The Islamic State in the context of the war on terror. The Iraq war 2003–2010, including the US Counterinsurgency strategy implemented in Iraq in 2007 onwards, together with the political developments in Iraq after the US withdrawal of combat troops at the end of 2011 is seen as the breeding ground for Islamic State in Iraq and thus for establishment of the Nusra Front (al-Qaida) in Syria. The chapter argues that without political developments based on reliable states in the Arab Middle East there is no solution in sight for ending the conflicts and wars in the region.</p>