Shiites

By Balsam Mustafa | (The Conversation) | – – The operation to retake Iraq’s second city of Mosul from the so-called Islamic State [group] (IS) has entered its crucial phase. The Iraqi army, federal police, elite counter-terrorism units, and rapid response troops are operating on the ground, bolstered by discreetly embedded US special forces. The […]

Donald Trump

Iraqi Leaders Denounce Trump over Oil, Jerusalem; US Troops in Political Crossfire

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Since his inauguration, Donald J. Trump has not been making a good impression in Iraq, where the US has 6,000 troops, according to al-Zaman (The Times) of Baghdad. The prime minister has forcefully rejected Trump’s talk of “taking Iraqi oil.” And the Shiite clerical leader, Muqtada […]

Iraq

The Future of Iraq? As Police Lose Control Of Streets, Militias Take Over

contributors

Mustafa Habib | (Baghdad) | (Niqash.org) | – – The volunteer militias formed to fight the Islamic State group are now policing Baghdad’s neighbourhoods. But as they do, they compete with the real police, ignore the real laws and often act more like a mafia. Recently Baghdad local Jafar al-Aboudi’s son got into a fight […]

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 […]

Iraq

Sectarian Tensions flare in Baghdad as some Sunni Arab families forced from Neighborhoods

contributors

By Ibrahim Saleh | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Several Sunni Muslim families were forced out of their mainly Shiite Muslim neighbourhood in Baghdad recently. Locals fear the creeping return of sectarian tensions, as street by street changes. Earlier this month, the head of the Baghdad provincial council’s security committee, Mohammed al-Rubaie, announced that […]

Iraq

In Mosul, ISIL Extremists Wall in Residents, prepare for Armageddon

contributors

Special Correspondent | Mosul | (Niqash.org) | – – In Mosul, the Islamic State is preparing for a siege, building walls, tunnels and trenches and boasting that, like the Prophet Mohammed in the 7th century, they will be able to withstand any attacks. Locals doubt it. In Mosul, members of the extremist group that control […]

Islam

The myth and history of Sunni-Shia divide

contributors

By Amir Ahmadi Arian | ( OpenDemocracy ) | – – Sunnis and Shias have lived together in peace for centuries, and up to the new millennium have barely had a history of bloody conflict. Why now? Head of the Shiite opposition, left, and Sunni Muslim leader of a liberal opposition party, right, hold a […]

Featured

Saudi Bigot-in-Chief Declares Iranian Shiites “Not Muslim”

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – `Abd al-Aziz Al Shaikh, the chief jurisconsult or mufti for the interpretation of Muslim law in Saudi Arabia, said Wednesday that Iranian Shiites are not Muslims. This statement is a huge step back from the limited progress Saudi had made under the previous king, Abdullah, toward […]

Iraq

‘Unacceptable’ UN says US-Backed Iraqi Militias Recruiting Children

contributors

TeleSur | – – The United Nations said it was “deeply concerned” about reports the groups are using children on the frontlines of the fight against the Islamic State group. Amid reports that U.S.-backed Iraqi militias are recruiting children to fight the Islamic State group, the United Nations said Wednesday it is “deeply concerned” and […]