Iraq

NewsBeat Social | (Video News report) | – – “A Muslim businessman in Iraq put up an 85-foot-tall Christmas tree in Baghdad to show solidarity with Iraqi Christians and help Iraqis “forget their anguish”” NewsBeat Social: ” LOOK: Christmas Tree in Baghdad ‘Represents Love and Peace’”

Bahrain

With Fall of Aleppo, will a Russo-Iranian Middle East challenge Trump?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – On Thursday, the Syrian government announced that the last of those who wanted to be evacuated from the East Aleppo pocket had been bused out, and that the Bashar al-Assad regime had reestablished complete control over the entire city of Aleppo. Bashar al-Assad in his remarks […]

Iraq

Could Iraqi Parliament Recognition of Shiite Militias re-Tribalize the Sunnis?

contributors

By Ibrahim Saleh | (Baghdad) | Niqash.org | – – Although many Sunni politicians tried to block the passage of a November law that legitimized Iraq’s Shiite volunteer militias, some did not. They want the 30,000 or so Sunni volunteer fighters to get their share too. In late November, the Iraqi government passed the controversial […]

Employment

It’s the Economy, Stupid: Ending ‘Religious’ Violence in the Middle East

contributors

Moha Ennaji | (Project Syndicate) | – – FEZ – The escalation of radicalism, violence, and civil wars in the Middle East since the so-called Arab Spring revolts began in 2010 has exacted a massive toll in human lives and welfare. The need to build effective states that support peace, provide greater opportunity and prosperity, […]

Energy

Is Bruited Sec. of State Tillerson allied with Iran & at war with Iraq?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – A couple of years ago an oil tanker showed up off the Texas coast with cargo from Iraqi Kurdistan. The problem? Iraqi Kurdistan is a province of Iraq, and the central government in Baghdad claims that petroleum discovered in Iraqi Kurdistan is under the control of […]

Iraq

The Fate of Iraq’s Minorities After Mosul

contributors

By Tyler Fisher and Kamal Kolo | ( OpenDemocracy.net) | – – The liberation of Mosul offers the international community a unique opportunity to permit the region’s most vulnerable minorities to exercise self-preservation and self-determination. Prayer cloths on Mount Arafat in the Yezidi holy site of Lalish, Kurdistan Region. Picture by Levi Clancy. Creative Commons […]

Iraq

Does Turkey’s Erdogan Dream of Neighboring Mosul?

contributors

By Lucy DerTavitian | (Informed Comment) | – – The battle over Mosul appears to have ignited Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s expansionist Ottoman era fantasies. He gained a few more adversaries recently when he claimed that Mosul, along with Aleppo, Western Thrace in Greece, and Kosovo, are part of Turkey. Erdogan’s comments come at […]

Displaced and Refugees

Raining Bombs: Mosul Fight hits Trapped Civilians

contributors

By a Special Correspondent | Mosul | (Niqash.org) | – – Inside their homes, a lack of food and water; outside, bombs, snipers and crossfire. Yet many Mosul locals are choosing to stay in the city, even though it’s a war zone. Despite the fact that extremists have been driven out of their Mosul neighbourhood, […]

Human Rights Watch

Iraq: Hundreds of Police bodies found in ISIS Mass Grave

contributors

Human Rights Watch | – – Witnesses Describe Executions (Erbil) – A mass grave discovered near Mosul by Iraqi Security Forces on November 7, 2016, most likely contains the bodies of at least 300 former local police officers executed by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Witnesses said that they believe that at the […]