General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries

The General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries (المجلس العسكري العام لثوار العراق al-Majlis al-‘Askari al-‘Āmm li-Thuwwār al-‘Irāq) abbreviated as GMCIR or MCIR, is a militant group active in Iraq headed by Saddam Hussein-era military and political leaders. It has been described by Al Jazeera as "one of the main groups" in the current Iraqi insurgency.

The Council began its insurgency against the Iraqi government in January 2014 as a unifying command for the former Sunni Arab Spring protestors that Nouri al-Maliki's government had cracked down upon since 2012. The MCIR has stated that it has a central command and "the footprints of a professional army", that it follows the Geneva Convention protocol rules, as well as claiming to be non-sectarian and seeking a "democratic solution" to the Iraqi crisis.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace characterized the MCIR as an Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region front group.

Presence in Iraq
The MCIR has a presence in Ramadi, Salahaddin, Abu Ghraib, Baghdad, Mosul, and Diyala. After seizing and capturing Mosul, the MCIR entered it along with many opposition armed forces, including ISIS. They installed a former officer in the Iraqi Army, Major General Azhar al-Ubaidi, with the approval of the other forces that entered Mosul, as governor. A municipal worker described MCIR as administering the management of the city better than the Iraqi government, which was "providing electricity for only 2 or 3 hours a day," and was "corrupt."

After the Iraqi Parliament approved the government of the new PM Haider al-Abadi on 8 September 2014, the MCIR stated on 9 September "Our people are being deceived, misled, ignored and mocked, while the political process stayed on the same faces." They commented in the statement on the installation of Nouri al-Maliki as a vice-president of Fuad Masum, saying "Instead of prosecuting al-Maliki for his crimes and his explosive barrels that is being thrown on over the heads of innocent people, the political leaders of Iraq honored him by making him vice-president of the republic of murder and destruction."

Association of Muslim Scholars
The GMIR has close links with the Association of Muslim Scholars, a group that considers the current Iraqi government as illegitimate due to being the result of the United States occupation.

ISIS
The MCIR's relationship with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant is one of cooperation, yet there are significant differences between the two. Despite taking part in the same June 2014 offensive, which wrested control of much of Northern Iraq from Baghdad, MCIR spokesman and former General Muzhir al Qaisi has criticized ISIS and their strict implementation of Shari'a law, describing members of ISIS as "barbarians." He also claimed that the MCIR was stronger than ISIS.

An unnamed source for the MCIR stated: "We plan to avoid them [ISIS] until we are settled and operations are finished; then we will kick them out".

The presence of MCIR fighters on the ground has been noted by observers, who argued that United States airstrikes would "inflame" the situation in Iraq by not taking into account the diversity of the opposition to the al-Maliki regime.

Kurdish Regional Government
The MCIR reportedly has a truce agreement with the Kurdish Regional Government not to target Kurdish territory, in return for the Regional Government's non-interference in the Council creating an autonomous area outside of the control of the current Iraqi government.

Media
Iraqi TV coverage of early 2014 events within the country was split along sectarian, religious lines. Channels loyal to Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, including the government's own al-Iraqiya TV, are rallying Iraqis to volunteer and fight to restore order and remove "terrorists". Meanwhile, Sunni channels present the latest advances by the insurgents as part of an uprising against what they call "al-Maliki's army."

According to western media, Al-Rafidain TV is particularly supportive of the cause of the "revolutionaries" and "mujahideen" who it says are fighting to liberate the country.