The 6th Division is a formation of the Iraqi Army, first formed after 1959, converted to armoured status by 1973, but disbanded in 2003.

Its subordinate formations included: The division was previously commanded by Major General Mubdar Hatim al-Dulaimi, who was killed in 2006.

Although Ghanam presented himself as a professional, the general reportedly maintained ties with both Shi’a militia leaders and AQI, periodically releasing prisoners or returning confiscated equipment in exchange for bribes.

Soon, the Muthanna Brigade began raiding sites where Pinkerton held meetings with former insurgents; however, the U.S. colonel saw through the charade and shifted his meetings to places outside the Muthanna Brigade’s sector.”[7] "In retrospect, it also might have been the case in Abu Ghraib that Maliki was not simply declining to rein in an obstructive Iraqi commander, Nasser Ghanam, but was directing the commander’s actions.

When Colonel Burton’s 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division "..closed in on the Araji-controlled shrine on April 29, 2007, to detain JAM leaders they knew to be present, they came under RPG and small-arms fire [Rayburn and Sobchak, Vol II, p210-211].

The ensuing 2-day standoff resulted in the deaths of at least nine Iraqi soldiers who had allied themselves with the militia and ended with a Parliamentary decree barring U.S. troops from a 1-square-kilometer zone around the shrine."