Iraq

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Masoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (a super-province of Iraq) said Thursday that the KRG paramilitary, the Peshmerga, will not enter Mosul. He also remarked that last week’s Daesh attack on Kirkuk was an attempt to divert attention from the terrorist organization’s failures […]

Iraq

Int’l Conflict over Aleppo & Mosul is Making local Civil Wars Worse

contributors

By Christopher Hill | (Project Syndicate) | – – DENVER – The Middle East’s tragic tale of two cities – Aleppo in Syria and Mosul in Iraq – speaks to a fundamental lack of consensus in the region and within the broader international community. The lack of order in the international order is greatly complicating […]

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Why Trump is (really) wrong to bet against US Military-backed Mosul Campaign

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – As Josh Rogin pointed out, Donald Trump’s pronouncement that the Mosul campaign is bound to fail is an affront to the Iraqi and US troops risking their lives against Daesh (ISIS, ISIL). It is also just plain wrong, and the terms of his pronouncement show once […]

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Iraqi Kurdistan forces take Bashiqa on road to Mosul

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – On Sunday, AFP reports in Arabic, Iraqi forces continued their advance on Mosul despite the car bombs and sniping tactics of Daesh (ISIS, ISIL). They moreover were able to expel a whole group of Daesh fighters. Sunday morning, the Peshmerga, the paramilitary of the Kurdistan Regional […]

Iraq

Will Kurdish Soldiers Withdraw From Parts Of Mosul Their Leaders Covet?

contributors

By Histyar Qader | Erbil | (Niqash.org) | – – Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan have agreed where Kurdish military should fight. But, as commanders worry, there’s been no agreement as to how long Kurdish soldiers will stay after the Islamic State leave. According to a statement from the Iraqi Kurdish government, around 35,000 of their […]

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ISIL feint toward Kirkuk defeated, but Kills hundreds in Mosul

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Aside from the slow, steady advances being made by the Iraqi army and its allies against Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) in Mosul, the two big stories on Friday and Saturday morning were a diversionary attack on Kirkuk by the fundamentalist organization, and CNN’s discovery that Daesh killed […]

Iraq

Will Turkey, Iran & Iraq make the Mosul Campaign a Land Grab?

contributors

By James Miller | ( RFE/RL ) | – – We may be witnessing the end of the extremist group, the [so-called] Islamic State [group] (IS), as we know it. Over the weekend, the coalition of Turkish military soldiers and Syrian rebel groups, backed by a small number of U.S. Special Operations Forces and air […]

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ISIL Boasts: America will go down to defeat in the Streets of Mosul

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – AFP is reporting that a news agency linked to Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), “A`maq,” is carrying a video of a Daesh fighter who swears that he and his colleagues will inflict a decisive defeat on the US in Iraq, as the guerrillas spread through the streets of […]

Iraq

Even if Mosul is liberated, it won’t be the end of Islamic State

contributors

Simon Mabon | (The Conversation) | – – After weeks of speculation about an attempt to retake the city of Mosul from the so-called Islamic State (IS), Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi proclaimed the start of the offensive. “God willing, the decisive battle will be soon,” he said at a press conference. This could well […]