(By Juan Cole) Iraqis went to the polls on Wednesday in the first national parliamentary elections since US troops pulled out of the country completely (in late 2011). The results won’t be in for a while, but here are some early statistics: 1. Preliminary estimate of turnout: 60% 2. Number of people who died in […]
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Iraq
The Impunity of American Torture: From Abu Ghraib to Sen. Feinstein’s Brawl with the CIA
(by Karen J. Greenberg via Tomdispatch.com) It’s mind-boggling. Torture is still up for grabs in America. No one questions anymore whether the CIA waterboarded one individual 83 times or another 186 times. The basic facts are no longer in dispute either by those who champion torture or those who, like myself, despise the very idea […]
A Widening War: Iraq intervenes in Syria with Helicopter Gunships
(By Juan Cole) For the first time, Iraqi helicopter gunships have crossed the border to hit a target inside Syria. They destroyed 8 fuel tankers transporting gasoline to forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an al-Qaeda affiliate that has begun holding territory both in northern Syria and in al-Anbar Province in Iraq. […]
Iraq: Baghdad’s Troubled Election Campaign Marred by Bombings that killed Dozens
Euronews film clip: “Three explosions in Baghdad have killed dozens of people as they were leaving an election rally in the east of the capital. A roadside bomb blew up near the gate outside the meeting. Followed by a suicide car bomb after a few minutes. Then a third explosion. A Sunni jihadist group [the […]
How Torture became Normalized in America
(By Rebecca Gordon) The US military involvement in Iraq has more or less ended, and the war in Afghanistan is limping to a conclusion. Yet leaks of Senate torture reports about actions in 2002 to 2006 are still breaking news. Don’t the problems of torture really belong to the bad old days of an earlier […]
Obama and David Brooks’s Manhood Problem
(By Juan Cole) David Brooks attacked President Obama on Sunday, saying: “Basically since Yalta we’ve had an assumption that borders are basically going to be borders, and once that comes into question, if in Ukraine or in Crimea or anywhere else, then all over the world … all bets are off . . .” … […]
The Great Moat of Iraqi Kurdistan with Syria Separates Families
(By Abdul-Khaleq Dosky in Dohuk, for Niqash) To better protect their borders, authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan are digging a large trench in the area bordering Syria. Locals are protesting about it, saying that links with family and friends in neighbouring towns will be severed and economic opportunities lost; some are already describing it as a […]
An Int’l Trail of Death and Heartbreak: How the Bush Wars came home with the Vets
(By Ann Jones) After an argument about a leave denied, Specialist Ivan Lopez pulled out a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and began a shooting spree at Fort Hood, America’s biggest stateside base, that left three soldiers dead and 16 wounded. When he did so, he also pulled America’s fading wars out of the closet. […]
Color Video of Progress in 1950s Iraq before the US Got involved in It
British Pathé: Ageless Iraq Reel 1 (1950-1959) Blurb: “Reel 1. Directed by Graham Wallace. Cameraman – Reg Cavender. Editor – Jocelyn Jackson. Sound – W.S. Bland and George Newberry. L/S of aeroplane flying over countryside. Various aerial shots of Iraq and its rivers. C/U of a shepherd looking up at the sky. Aerial shot of […]








