Iraq

John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – ISIL* is on the decline, but the catastrophic political divisions in Iraq and Syria that gave rise to it are no closer to being mended. The Middle East today is enduring a replay of World War II — with the Islamic State in the […]

African-Americans

Upshot of Mueller Probe: Putin did to US what we did to Iran and Iraq

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The indictment of George Papadopoulos, the foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign in 2016, for lying to the FBI is the most important news that came out Monday. What he lied about was the timeline of his contacts with the Russian Federation on behalf of […]

Featured

Barzani gambled it all and Lost– Kurdistan Pres. ending Career

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani has written a letter to the parliament of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government announcing that he will not run for president again and will go out of office on November 1 as his much-extended term of office ends. Barzani had taken heart from […]

Iraq

Iraq: How Youtube & Facebook Fake News Raised Kurdish-Shiite Tensions

Juan Cole

By Histyar Qader | Erbil | (Niqash.org) | – – After clashes in northern Iraq this week, hundreds of fake pictures have flooded Iraqi social media. Some are real, some not, but leaders on both sides say it’s leading to a dangerous escalation of tensions. Given the partisan nature of much of the media funding […]

Featured

Continued Conflict: Iraqi PM rejects Kurdish offer, insists Referendum be Annulled

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi was in Tehran on Thursday for consultations with the Iranian government (no, Abadi isn’t afraid of Trump.). During his meeting with Iranian vice president Ishaq Jahangiri, his office released a statement replying to Massoud Barzani. Barzani is the president of the […]

Iraq

Iraqi Arabs & Kurds Use Weapons, Meant For Extremists, On Each Other

contributors

Shalaw Mohammed | (Kirkuk) | (Niqash.org) | – – The countries that gave the Iraqi and Kurdish military rockets, vehicles and guns were concerned that locals might turn the guns on one another. They just didn’t think it would happen so soon. In the various military skirmishes that have erupted during the movement of troops […]

Donald Trump

Iraqi PM Rebukes Tillerson on Popular Mobilization Militia

contributors

TeleSur | – – “Popular Mobilisation fighters should be encouraged because they will be the hope of country and the region,” Abadi said. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has defended the role of his country’s Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashd al-Sha’abi, following a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that members of the […]

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Tillerson tells Iraqi Shiite Militias to “go home.” Sad.

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Trump-style ignorance and faux pas are spreading, with Tillerson making missteps on Iraq. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for consultations, called on Iranian militias in Iraq to “go home.” There is one problem. There are no Iranian militias in Iraq. The Popular […]

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Last counties in Kirkuk fall to Iraqi Gov’t as Sistani calls for protection of Kurdish Citizens

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Iraqi military and its Shiite militia auxiliaries have completed their reassertion in Kirkuk. The last pockets of resistance fell as units advanced on Altun Kupru, the last check point before you get to Erbil, one of the three Kurdistan provinces. In the process, there was […]