Iraq: US-Maliki Face-off Backfires
via LobeLog by Wayne White Secretary of State John Kerry’s June 23 meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sent a risky symbolic message, albeit unintended: perhaps the US could work with...
View ArticleAn Alliance of Convenience with Iran? Baghdad as “Exhibit A”
via LobeLog by Ellie Geranmayeh The violence in Iraq has provoked serious considerations by the West as to whether cooperation with Iran is worth testing to secure regional stability. In the last...
View ArticleIraq: Relearning Forgotten Lessons
by Henry Precht The Blame Game on Iraq threatens to eclipse the popularity of the World Cup – at least among American self-nominated experts on that poor country. Where have we heard those...
View ArticleThe Kurdish Future in Iraq: Independence or Confederation
via LobeLog by Mohammed A. Salih Ebril — The Iraqi Kurdish media and public are these days buzzing with heated discussions about independence. The reason is simple: never before has there been such a...
View ArticleIraq: Maliki on the Way Out?
via LobeLog by Wayne White After a drought of news on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s bid to stay in power, a July 22 Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article claimed he has run into real trouble. Now,...
View ArticleISIS on the Move With Baghdad Still Gridlocked
via LobeLog by Wayne White Forces of the Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS, have lunged toward two strategic dams earlier this month, one in the north and the other west of Baghdad. The northern...
View ArticleWanted: Reliable Iraqi Partners for the US
via LobeLog by Wayne White An old military dictum still applies: no determined enemy can be stopped by air power alone. Much will depend on whether the Kurdish Peshmerga militia proves willing to make...
View ArticleIraq: Maliki Goes Rogue
via LobeLog by Wayne White Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki resorted to a bare-knuckle power play on Aug. 10 in a frantic attempt to forestall his unfolding political defeat. Leaders recognizing...
View ArticleMessy Realities and the Unhelpful Debate on U.S. Foreign Policy
by Paul Pillar Much current debate in the United States about foreign policy can be boiled down—at the risk of the sort of oversimplification that too often characterizes the debate itself—to the...
View ArticleTo Fix Iraq, Don’t Lose Sight of Syria
via LobeLog by Julien Barnes-Dacey The designation of Haider al-Abadi as the new prime minister of Iraq is a significant step toward opposing the Islamic State if his premiership can be secured and...
View ArticleMaliki is Gone: Now What?
via LobeLog by Shireen T. Hunter Nouri al-Maliki is no longer Iraq’s prime minister, but his departure does not mean that Iraq’s problems will be resolved easily or soon. A basic change must first...
View ArticlePublic Offers Support for Obama’s Iraq Intervention
by Jim Lobe Despite rising criticism of his foreign policy — even from his former secretary of state — President Barack Obama’s decision last week to carry out airstrikes against Islamic State...
View ArticleLearning the Wrong Lessons from the Wrong Wars
via LobeLog by James A. Russell The apparent beheading of American journalist James Foley adds a particularly gruesome and tragic twist to the sports event-like reporting of our attempts to thwart the...
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Why Washington’s War on Terror Failed
The Underrated Saudi Connection by Patrick Cockburn [This essay is excerpted from the first chapter of Patrick Cockburn’s new book, The Jihadis Return: ISIS and the New Sunni Uprising, with special...
View ArticleThe Middle East’s Unfinished Wars
via LobeLog James A. Russell The predictions of doom in the Middle East that are dominating thinking in the foreign policy commentariat of Washington and other capitals over the spread of the Islamic...
View ArticleLet’s Keep ISIS in Perspective
via LobeLog by Wayne White American political and media commentary on ISIS (which calls itself the Islamic State) since the beheading of James Foley has been flush with exaggeration and skewed focus....
View ArticleProject for a New American Imbroglio
via LobeLog by Jim Lobe Unsurprisingly, the same people who loudly championed the 2003 invasion of Iraq are clearly at it again, although this time they want not only to see US troops fighting in Iraq,...
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How America Made ISIS
Their Videos and Ours, Their “Caliphate” and Ours by Tom Engelhardt Whatever your politics, you’re not likely to feel great about America right now. After all, there’s Ferguson (the whole world was...
View ArticleObama’s Speech on ISIS: The Big Picture
by Robert E. Hunter “Those who in quarrels interpose, are apt to get a bloody nose.” —Lord Palmerston on keeping Britain from supporting the South in the American Civil War. This Wednesday night...
View ArticleAs US Shuns Iran in Fight Against ISIS, History Repeats
by Esfandyar Batmanghelidj Last week epitomized the highs and lows of hoping for an improvement in US-Iran relations. A BBC report on Sept. 5 that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had approved...
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