[21] The precise details about the emergence of the JRTN are unclear, although it is generally assumed that the group was established in the summer of 2003 and consists of former members of Saddam Hussein's army, including ex-members of Republican Guard, former Ba‘ath Party officials, former security and military intelligence agents (with connections to al-Douri) who seek to fight and remove Coalition forces from Iraq and to restore the old order under Ba'athist ideology.

[23][24] Between its founding in 2006 and the 2011 U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, JRTN planned, financed, and facilitated militant attacks against U.S. forces and military bases.

[26][27][28] On April 25, 2013, insurgents from the Naqshbandi Army completely captured the town of Sulaiman Bek, about 170 km (106 mi) north of Baghdad, after heavy fighting with security forces, only to relinquish control of it a day later, while escaping with weapons and vehicles.

Following the Hawija clashes, JRTN units in Nineveh began to mobilize, emerging as a force that could potentially play a role in a new low-level Sunni uprising.

Online the group links to videos showing attacks on Coalition forces,[32] whereas its magazine publishes articles describing Sufism and Jihad, whilst trying to promote its ideology and requesting donations.

The JRTN is predominantly composed of Iraqi Sunnis of the Sufi Naqshbandi order trying to force foreign troops out of Iraq until the withdrawal of the US in 2011.

[23] However, despite its roots in a desire to protect Sufis, the group has declared itself to be fighting to maintain Iraq's unity along with its Arab and Islamic character.

[1] Although the group recognizes a direct return to Baathist control is impossible, they focus instead on infiltrating former Ba'athists into positions of power to hopefully dominate a future nationalist government.

[33] The group then wishes to portray itself and the wider Baath party as a technocratic alternative to a currently incompetent Shia Islamist government that is incapable of delivering services.

Maintaining chaos in Iraq is a key part of this plan as the JRTN must ensure living standards do not improve under the current government so as to make the group appear more attractive.

[23] People such as Ibrahim al-Sumadaie of the Iraqi Constitutional Party fear that JRTN could become increasingly attractive to Sunnis either aggrieved by a Shiite-dominated government or those such as the Awakening Councils who left the insurgency and switched sides to the Coalition forces to fight al Qaeda who now feel abandoned.

Security officials contend that thousands of Sunni insurgents who are upset by Maliki's failure to absorb them into the military are being recruited by JRTN and will pose a threat to stability.

These figures don't necessarily act violently, allowing them to blend in and making it difficult to obtain warrants issued by the Iraqi court to arrest them.

[1] JRTN was strongly opposed to any involvement in the political process during the occupation of Iraq and now works to overthrow the government of Nouri al-Maliki.

Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri is often speculated as being fund-raising for the group outside of Iraq, especially given that it has become essentially the de facto armed wing of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party.

[1] Although Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was long often referred to as the group's leader, his status within the organization was never unambiguously clear, some claimed he was closely linked to the JRTN but outside its leadership.

It has been suggested that al-Douri played a role in encouraging the people of Iraq to become more religious during Saddam Hussein's rule, which is why the Naqshbandi Order became increasingly popular amongst Iraqi Ba'athists.

[39] On 22 December 2009, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated "the Iraq-based insurgent group Jaysh Rijal al-Tariqah al-Naqshbandiyya (JRTN) for threatening the peace and stabilization efforts in Iraq" saying, "JRTN has committed, directed, supported, or posed a significant risk of committing acts of violence against Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces and is being designated today pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.)