Iraq

Tragically, all we’ve fought for in Iraq, all that 4,500 American lives were shed to gain, is on the cusp, potentially, of vanishing. – Mitt Romney, “Ideas Summit,” 6/13/2014 All we fought for in Iraq. All we fought for in Iraq is on the cusp…

Barack Obama

Opportunities Abound in Iraq to Reset US Middle East Policy

contributors

By Kirk J. Beattie The crisis induced by ISIL’s advances in Iraq presents tremendous opportunities for the United States, and the U.S. government should move quickly to take full advantage. ISIL represent the worst of the worst forces involved in the Iraqi imbroglio. Its members’ values are totally at odds with those of an enormous […]

Barack Obama

Don’t Trust the Bombers on Iraq: “Shock and Awe” Never Works

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole In March of 2003, we were treated to an intensive bombardment of Iraq, which the Bush White House propagandists termed “Shock and Awe.” As usual, the US Air Force practically promised us that if only they could throw down all their fancy munitions on the target country from the air, why, you […]

Iraq

Why some Iraqis would rather try their luck under Sunni Extremists

contributors

ERBIL, Iraq — Five days after fleeing Mosul in northern Iraq, Ahmed says he’s now more nervous than ever. But it’s not the Al Qaeda-inspired extremists who took over his hometown that have him worried. No, he’s scared of what his own military might…

Bush

Wikileaks’ Manning says US public was lied to about Iraq from the start

contributors

Manning says US public lied to about Iraq from the start (via AFP) The detained US soldier convicted of leaking a trove of secret documents to WikiLeaks made a rare foray into public life Saturday to warn Americans they were being lied to about Iraq once more. Chelsea Manning is serving a 35-year prison sentence […]

Featured

7 Myths about the Radical Sunni Advance in Iraq

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Already in the past week and a half, many assertions are becoming commonplace in the inside-the-Beltway echo chamber about Iraq’s current crisis that are poorly grounded in knowledge of the country. Here are some sudden truisms that should be rethought. 1. “The Sunni radicals of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria […]

Iraq

The seven people who need to STFU about Iraq right now

contributors

We at Raw Story’s Oh God Here We Go Again desk know that we can’t be the only ones whose stomachs are turning at the thought of a renewed military engagement in Iraq. We marvel at the Big Brass Ones on some people who feel the need to offer their…

Bush

Blair-Bush & Iraq: It’s not just the quagmire but the Lawbreaking & Deception

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is complaining that he is unfairly blamed for causing the current mess in Iraq and that if Saddam had still been in power it would be just as unstable. He is, perhaps deliberately, missing the point. His invasion of Iraq was illegal and based on deception […]

Featured

Iraq: Radical Shiite Militia fights Sunni Extremists as US Carrier reaches Gulf

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Saturday was a day of militia pushback against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]. In a sign of growing polarization on both the Sunni and the Shiite sides, the best fighters on the Shiite side against Sunni al-Qaeda wannabes. When the worst elements of two communities go at one another, […]