Iraq

By Charles Recknagel, RFE/RL The United States is putting together the first international coalition to try to roll back the Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and Syria. But when the nearly 40-state-strong alliance starts operations, it will find that there is already another coalition on the ground whose presence could complicate the U.S.-led effort […]

Featured

Shiite Militias of Iraq Reject US Return, Threaten to Attack US Forces

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole The pan-Arab, London-based daily, “Al-Sharq al-Awsat” (The Middle East) reports that the major Shiite militias of Iraq are denouncing Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi for welcoming US air support in the fight against the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Prime Minister al-Abadi himself rejected conventional US ground troops for […]

Iraq

The Next Conflict in Iraq? Will the Kurds try to Annex Kirkuk Permanently?

contributors

By Nawzat Shamdeen | Berlin | via Niqash.org What will happen to Iraq’s “disputed territories” once Sunni Muslim extremists have been driven out? Will the Iraqi Kurdish military, who now control some of it, insist on staying? Or will conflicts between the Iraqi Kurdish and the Iraqi army make for the country’s next crisis? NIQASH […]

Iraq

Congressman Lloyd Doggett: Don’t be Stampeded into War

contributors

U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) House Floor Speech September 16, 2014 The Middle Eastern tragedy, in which this resolution will further entangle America, is directly related to the wholly unnecessary Bush-Cheney invasion of Iraq. Having learned so little from the sacrifices of that conflict, the Congress now approves greater involvement in a Syrian civil war […]

Featured

Should US policy toward ISIL be Containment?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole The US launched air strikes on Tuesday on ISIL targets, south of Baghdad and also in the north. The ones south of Baghdad were in support of the Iraqi Army, for the first time since the ISIL crisis broke in early June. US close air support to the Iraqi army and the […]

Iraq

Turkey’s Caution on ISIL War: “It’s far away for them but very close to us”

contributors

By Ali Murat Yel, Editor-in-Chief TurkeyAgenda In the United States the public has difficulty in understanding the reluctance of Turkey to join the international coalition that is going to war in the heart of the Middle East. But the answer is simple: it is a matter of geography. I still remember Turkish people’s reaction against […]

Iraq

As Sunni MPs Plea for Precision US Strikes, Iraqi Gov’t Kills 31 in School Shelter

contributors

Human Rights Watch (Erbil) – The Iraqi government should promptly investigate an airstrike that hit a school housing displaced people near Tikrit on September 1, 2014. The attack killed at least 31 civilians, including 24 children, and wounded 41 others. According to three survivors, no fighters from the armed group Islamic State or other military […]

Egypt

Arab Allies will wage Financial war on ISIL: Is it Enough?

contributors

By Charles Recknagel via RFE/RL As Washington vows to put together a broad coalition to fight Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, the outlines of the new alliance are beginning to take shape. Much of the emphasis has been upon finding partners among the Arab states. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in […]

Featured

Media, Politicians should stop Letting ISIL Manipulate them

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Ever since George W. Bush invaded Iraq and created the circumstances under which al-Qaeda could take root and flourish there from 2003 forward, al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia (which later styled itself the “Islamic State of Iraq”) has taken captives and has beheaded them on film. It was doing this in 2004 These acts […]