By Juan Cole Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki is fighting for his political life as well as for the territorial integrity of Iraq. On Saturday he launched a large military operation in an attempt to take back control of Tikrit (the capital of Salahuddin Province) just to the north of the capital, Baghdad. Al-Maliki has lost […]
Archives for June 2014
A Subtle Alchemy: US Finds it easier to Occupy Abroad than to Withdraw
By Alan McPherson In 2003, former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld infamously foresaw victory in Afghanistan and Iraq as demanding a “long, hard slog” and listed a multitude of unanswered questions. Over a decade later, as President Obama (slowly) fulfills his promise to pull all US troops from Afghanistan, a different set of questions emerges. […]
Iraqi Mosul’s Child Soldiers: ISIS Trickily recruits 10-year-olds
niqash | Special Correspondent | Mosul | Much to the horror of the city’s adults, children and teens in masks, carrying guns, are becoming an increasingly common sight on Mosul’s streets. NIQASH meets ISIS’s youngest recruit – he’s ten years old – and asks the city’s youth why they think it’s so glamorous to fight […]
Sunni Radicals of ISIS seek showdown with Lebanon’s Hizbullah
By Radwan Mortada The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has decided to instigate a full-scale conflagration in Lebanon. All indications show that the al-Qaeda offshoot is resolved to bring back suicide bombings en masse to the country of the cedars. After all, Lebanon is within the borders of ISIS’ coveted emirate, yet its […]
Clinton to Cheney: Blaming Obama for not cleaning up your mess… Unseemly
During recent interview with David Gregory, Pres. Bill Clinton laughed off Dick Cheney’s suggestion that President Obama is to blame for the strife in Iraq, placing the blame directly at the feet of the former Vice President himself. When Gregory asked him if Dick Cheney had any credibility, the former president replied, “Well, I believe, […]
Top 5 Reasons US Aid to “Moderate” Syrian Fighters is Quixotic
The Obama administration’s fruitless search for effective Sunni “moderate” fighters in Syria continues, with the announcement of a $500 million grant to them for training and weaponry. This policy seems in part to be driven by Saudi Arabia from abroad and by liberal interventionists, including Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and UN Ambassador Susan […]
Unconstitutional: Top 4 Ways the US Gov’t has Shredded the 4th Amendment
By Peter Van Buren Here’s a bit of history from another America: the Bill of Rights was designed to protect the people from their government. If the First Amendment’s right to speak out publicly was the people’s wall of security, then the Fourth Amendment’s right to privacy was its buttress. It was once thought that the government […]
Iraqi Idol: Tikrit Woman who Confronted ISIS Becomes Internet Sensation
By Osama Hassan | Tikrit Sad story: Tikrit woman Umiyia Jibara was killed by an ISIS sniper. In a country currently full of sad tales, the tragic death of a Tikrit women’s affairs adviser has drawn particular attention. The Sunni Muslim woman was supporting her family as they stood against Sunni Muslim extremists when she […]
Dear Neocons: Why we’re not Sending Combat Troops to Iraq no matter how much you Pout
By Scott Corey There are only three things wrong with the idea of sending combat troops to Iraq at this time, as a range of hawks from Bill Kristol to Sen. John McCain has suggested. It is foolish obedience to bad allies. It abandons President Obama’s wise doctrine of self-limited commitment. And it prematurely commits […]
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