Terrorism

By Juan Cole Apparent good news was announced on Sunday in the fight against the extremist ISIL organization: The Iraqi army, backed by fundamentalist Shiite militias, managed to take the village of Jurf al-Sakhr, southwest of Baghdad, from ISIL fighters. This town has a population of about 80,000, consisting mostly of Sunnis from the Janabi […]

al-Qaeda

Are US Drone Strikes in Pakistan War Crimes? Only 12% of those Killed are Known Militants

contributors

By Rozina Ali Drone Strikes: The numbers don’t lie, except when they do By: Rozina Ali At a time when President Barack Obama has likened his new military strategy in Iraq and Syria to his drone programs in Yemen and Pakistan, disturbing new information has surfaced that damn drone strikes as indiscriminate in their effect […]

Displaced and Refugees

Could ISIL be Put on Trial? Challenge for International Law

contributors

DUBAI (IRIN) – The international outcry to the openly advertised atrocities committed in Iraq by the jihadist group calling itself Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS or ISIL) has led to calls for investigations and punishment, with US President Barak Obama saying “justice will be done” after the killing of journalist James Foley. This has […]

Colonialism

America didn’t learn the Lessons of Tribes & Counter-Insurgency in Vietnam, Leading to the Iraq Quagmire

contributors

By David Moore The rise of ISIL, as well as the resurgence of the Taliban, has brought numerous “experts” out to offer analyses on the best way to combat these developments. The consensus is to bomb and arm (or re-arm Sunni) groups to fight ISIL. Since I have written a book on insurgency and counter-insurgency […]

Barack Obama

Iran Proposes Axis against ISIL to Iraqi PM Abadi as alternative to US Coalition

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole al-Zaman [The Times of Baghdad] reports that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has proposed to visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi an anti-ISIL axis including Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq that would be led by Iran, as an alternative to the US-led coalition proposed by President Barack Obama. In essence, this is the same […]

Iraq

Iraqi Sunnis to ISIL, US Coalition: A Pox on Both your Houses

contributors

Sunni Muslim Militias Decide They Won’t Fight With IS – or The US Alliance By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | via Niqash.org It is clear to both the current Iraqi government, to the US government and to international and local analysts and observers that it is going to take more than aerial bombardment to weed […]

Iraq

If Baghdad & the Kurds are allied against ISIL, why is Baghdad Starving Kurdistan of Money?

contributors

From a blogger in the region: Following international media reporting, it is easy to think about war only in terms of uniforms, boots and steel. But the war against the Islamic state has a different face in Iraq. Contrary to the popular game where scissor beats paper, paper will be the biggest threat to the […]

Featured

Defying Turkey, US airdrops arms to Kobane Kurds

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole In a step that over-ruled America’s Turkish NATO ally, US jets dropped food, first aid and weaponry into the besieged Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane on Monday morning. Turkey’s president Tayyip Erdogan, in remarks made on Sunday, rejected the idea of arming the Syrian Kurdish fighters, equating them with terrorists. Al-Khaleej [The […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

The Kobane Crisis: Where are Turkey, the PKK and the Kurds Going?

contributors

By Mustafa Gurbuz For many Kurds, Ankara’s spectator role in Kobane is a systematic policy to weaken PKK to get more leverage in the peace talks. The radical ISIL group is besieging the Kurdish town of Kobane in Syria, and so far the Turkish government has done little about it. It is the leftist, separatist […]