Arab World

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump alleged on Tuesday that if elected, Hillary Clinton would start World War III with Russia over Syria. He wondered how Clinton would be able to negotiate with Putin, whom she has demonized, and said that her plan for a no-fly zone over Syria would […]

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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 […]

Featured

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 […]

Libya

Failing Libya

contributors

By Alison Pargeter | ( OpenDemocracy) | – – If peace and national unity in Libya seem remote five years after the fall of the Qadhafi regime, western powers and the international community bear much of the responsibility. On 20 October 2011, former Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qadhafi was dragged out of his sewage-pipe hideout […]

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 […]

Arab World

The Mosul Campaign and the 3rd Presidential Debate

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Some of the more extended comments on the Mosul campaign were those of Hillary Clinton. Here is Wallace’s question: WALLACE: . . . let’s move on to the subject of foreign hot spots. The Iraqi offensive to take back Mosul has begun. If they are successful […]

Featured

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 […]