But the ease with which the gunmen progressed elsewhere may not just have been down to the timidness of their Iraqi army foes. The area between Mosul and Baghdad also runs right through what US commanders used to call the Sunni Triangle, an area known for its loyalty to Saddam Hussein, where insurgent attacks on US troops were notably higher than elsewhere. With Iraq’s dictator gone, and US troops long departed, that hatred has transferred to the security forces of Iraq’s new Shia-dominated government, which the Sunnis claim treats them as second-class citizens. Some locals, indeed, may have given ISIS discreet help – although others on Wednesday accused the Iraqi army of giving up on them.