Iraq

By Nazand Begikhani via Your Middle East “These are strategic theories of rape in wartime which have been deliberately practiced by IS jihadists in Syria and now in Iraq,” writes Dr Nazand Begikhani. In the last few days, while the world has been overwhelmed by the flow of information about atrocities committed by Islamic State […]

Top 10 Mistakes of former Iraq PM Nouri al-Maliki (That Ruined his Country)

By Juan Cole Now that Nouri al-Maliki has resigned as prime minister, it is worth looking at the way his two terms as prime minister (2006-2010, 2010-2014) shaped Iraq. Did his policies help create the country’s current impasse? 1. Al-Maliki was so partisan in 2006 when he first came to power that he denied that […]

The Appeal of Intervention: New Iraqi Premier, Libyan Parliament ask for Int’l Troops

By Juan Cole According to a spokesman for his Da’wa Party (Islamic Call or Islamic Mission), Iraq’s prime minister-designate Haydar al-Abadi is preparing a platform on the basis of which he will see to form a new government; one of the planks is a joint Iraqi- international military push against the so-called Islamic State in […]

Iraq

Iraq Intervention? More like Ceaseless Escalation

By Elliott Colla, author of Baghdad Central While visiting Baghdad last year, I was struck by what Iraqis said every time I tried to apologize for the 2003 invasion: “Don’t apologize for that. We needed an invasion to get rid of Saddam Hussein.” And then they would add, “But you do need to apologize for […]

Iraq: Al-Abadi garners Iranian, US, Saudi Support: But can He Unite Iraq?

By Juan Cole Middle Eastern regional powers joined the US in welcoming the appointment of Haydar al-Abadi as Iraq’s next Prime Minister, creating a dorm full of strange bedfellows. The chairman of Iran’s national security council, Ali Shamkhani, congratulated al-Abadi and said that Iran approved of the legal process whereby President Fuad Masoum appointed the […]

Health

Hundreds, if not Thousands will Die: Film Crew finds Iraqi Yezidis still Trapped on Mountain

Channel 4 News “Dramatic footage as our Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Rugman helps drag dehydrated children to the back of a military helicopter who have fled Islamic State forces in northern Iraq. As the helicopter left Mt Sinjar it came under fire from IS militants and the helicopter crew are filmed returning fire. Camerawoman: Philippa […]

The Long Knives Come out in Baghdad

By Juan Cole The coup-like atmosphere created by Nouri al-Maliki’s stationing of his troops at the Green Zone, checkpoints and bridges in Baghdad on late Sunday backfired on him with Iraq’s parliamentarians. Nearly half of the members of his Islamic Da`wa Party (Islamic Call or Mission Party) in parliament defected from him. Most of the […]

Iraq

Nightmare in Iraq