Salafis

Press TV | (Video) — Reports coming out of Iraq suggest that government forces have managed to recapture a 5-kilometer area in the west of the flashpoint city. The latest advances follow fierce battles with the Takfiri terrorists. Dozens of terrorists have already been killed in the confrontation. Iraqi volunteer forces are advancing on Ramadi […]

Iraq

Nasty, New Neighbours: How Close Will Extremists Get To Baghdad?

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | (Niqash.org) | – The fall of Ramadi means that Baghdad, Karbala and Babel have unpleasant new neighbours in the Islamic State group. How long before the extremists are in the capital’s backyard? At one stage it seemed as though the chances of the extremist group known as the Islamic State entering […]

Featured

Shiite Militias announce “Here I am, O Husayn” Campaign for Sunni Ramadi

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – Shiite militias in Iraq, joined by some Sunni tribal levies, on Tuesday reached a university campus just to the southwest of Ramadi in what is called a “shaping operation” intended to set the stage for an all-out assault. There were some scattered firefights with Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) […]

Iraq

Iraq Can’t Get Ramadi back without an Inclusive Policy toward Sunnis

contributors

By David Alpher | (The Conversation) – Last Friday, the city of Ramadi – provincial capital of Iraq’s Anbar Province, and symbolic seat of its Sunni population – fell to an ISIS assault. The loss is devastating, and not only because of the city’s size or symbolic value, or because it’s another reminder that ISIS […]

Bashar al-Assad

As Palmyra Falls, Who Supports Bashar al-Assad in Syria? (Charles Glass)

contributors

VICE News | (Video) “VICE News and the New York Review of Books have partnered to create Talking Heads, a series about the big issues of the day as seen by the Review’s distinguished contributors. In this episode, Charles Glass discusses his essay “In the Syria We Don’t Know.” He drove through Syria in October […]

al-Qaeda

Washington asks, “Who lost Ramadi?” But Washington never had Ramadi

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | — The inside-the-Beltway debate set off by the fall of the Iraqi city of Ramadi to Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) on Sunday is, as usual, Dadaistic in its disconnection from reality. Republican talking points blame Barack Obama for withdrawing US troops from Iraq in 2011, as though Daesh suddenly […]

Featured

Iraq: 25,000 Shiite Militiamen gather for Battle of Ramadi

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | — Al-Zaman (The Times of Baghdad) reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi met Tuesday with leaders of the Shiite militias to plan the retaking of Ramadi, a Sunni Arab city about 78 miles due west of Baghdad that fell on Sunday to Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) as the […]

Counter-Terrorism

Why does the Iraqi Army Keep Running Away from ISIL?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Commen) | — Baghdad was shaken by the news that the Iraq army and police in Ramadi ran away from the advancing forces of Daesh (ISIL, ISIS). As a result, good American weaponry again fell into the hands of the extremists. Diya’ al-Wakil, former Iraqi military spokesperson, has the same […]

Islam

Over 40 Ismaili Shiites shot down by Sunni Extremists in Pakistan

contributors

BBC | – “Dozens of people are thought to have died after an attack by gunmen on a bus in Karachi. They surrounded the bus, which was carrying Ismaili Shia Muslims, and opened fire. It is believed that there were up to 60 people on board the bus, including women and children.” Dozens killed in […]