Iraq

Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org)| – – During last week’s protests, secret plans were made to use demonstrations to topple the government. But a senior Shiite spiritual leader seems to have stepped in at the last minute to save the country from chaos. At the end of July thousands of locals took to the […]

Featured

Why Partitioning Iraq is a Terrible Idea

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – I think the remarks of outgoing US Army chief Gen. Ray Odierno on the possible partition of Iraq have been reported in a sensationalist way. He just said that Sunni-Shiite relations in Iraq are at a nadir and that the country could look different in the […]

Bush

Memo to Jeb Bush: It was W’s Surge that created ISIL, not Hillary

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Jeb Bush very unwisely went after Hillary Clinton last night on the grounds that her Iraq policies gave us Daesh (ISIS, ISIL). Bush may think he is cleverly pulling a Karl Rove, attacking his opponent on her strong point (foreign policy), as Rove swiftboated John Kerry […]

Iraq

Controversy: Did Turkish anti-PKK Airstrikes hit civilian Kurdish village of Zargeli?

contributors

BBC | (Video News Report) | – – “Turkey may have joined the air war against Islamic State militants across the border in Syria. The nation has also been taking action against Kurdish fighters that it accuses of launching attacks within Turkey. One such airstrike took place last Saturday over the border in Iraq, where […]

Gulf

How Iran Deal Could Change the Middle East

contributors

By Benjamin Tua | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – Washington’s rapprochement with Iran has opened the door for major realignments from Israel to Afghanistan. Similar to the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, ethno-sectarian fights will inevitably remold the Middle East and reshape the boundaries for new nation-states. The profound changes occurring in […]

Immigration

Losing Hope, Iraqi Youth become Illegal Immigrants to ‘Save Themselves’

contributors

Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Previously it was the unemployed or those threatened who tried to leave Iraq for good. But a new wave of would-be immigrants is different – they are young, educated and employed. But they’ve lost all hope at home. A displaced family from Hawija in Kirkuk recieve […]

Iraq

It’s Dictatorship & Sectarianism, Stupid! – Rethinking the war on Daesh/ ISIL

contributors

By: Ramzy Baroud – (Ma’an News Agency) – – As much of the Middle East sinks deeper into division between competing political camps, the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (‘IS’) continues its unhindered march towards a twisted version of a Muslim caliphate. Many thousands have lost their lives, some in the most torturous ways, so that ‘IS’ […]

Energy

Thousands Protest in Baghdad against Lack of Electricity, Services & demand end of Corruption

contributors

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – It seems extraordinary, but in a country where Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) has advanced to within an hour’s drive of the capital, Baghdad, civil politics there has not been paralyzed. Big demonstrations broke out on Friday. #Iraq|is protesting en masse today in Tahrir Square(#Baghdad) calling for better […]

Iraq

After ISIL? Shiite Militias begin Entering Iraqi Politics

contributors

By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Once they were focused on fighting extremists. Now Iraq’s controversial volunteer Shiite militias seem to be preparing the ground for their political debut. It’s been extremely hot in Iraq over the past few weeks – summer temperatures have gone as high as 51 degrees Celsius […]