Iraq

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Learning the Right Lessons From Iraq and Afghanistan March 13, 2025

Our Middle East failures do not represent the true legacy of American foreign policy. ...

Syria Shows Dangerous Signs of Iraq’s Post-Saddam Chaos March 13, 2025

Democracy and peace are not guaranteed when a dictator falls — sometimes, a country’s fate turns uglier and messier. ...

Iran Could Lose Iraq March 11, 2025

Ever since its revolution in 1979, Iran has cultivated a network of proxies and friends throughout the Middle East. For years, this strategy proved successful. Slowly but surely, Tehran’s “axis of resistance” gained influence in Iraq, Lebanon, and Sy...

Trump, Aiming At Iran, Puts a Squeeze on Iraq March 10, 2025

The Trump administration has revoked a sanctions waiver that allowed Iraq to buy gas and electricity from Iran, U.S. officials said this weekend, intensifying an American pressure campaign on Tehran while complicating ties with a key U.S. partner in ...

Iraq’s Plan To Transform Its Economy Is a Risky Bet March 10, 2025

Iraq’s Development Road aims to reduce dependence on oil by turning the country into a key trade corridor between Asia and Europe. ...

Iraq’s Unfinished War February 12, 2025

U.S. Oil Refiners Look To Latin America, Iraq After Trump Tariffs February 06, 2025

Trump’s Wild Plan for Gaza February 06, 2025

President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a promise to put America first, just proposed the wildest and most improbable intervention by the United States in overseas affairs since the invasion and occupation of Iraq, more than 20 years ago. ...

Greenland: Warmed-Over McKinley or a Security Deal February 06, 2025

When the United States asked its friends for help earlier in this century, Denmark stepped forward, sending troops to fight and sometimes die in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now Danes face threats and intimidation from the United States in the form of Presi...

U.S.-Backed Forces Kill Five ISIS Operatives in Iraq February 04, 2025

Shiite Pilgrims Make Annual Pilgrimage in Iraq Amid Upheaval January 25, 2025

Honoring the Victims of the Anfal Genocide January 25, 2025

In May 2003, I stood alongside the late British MP and humanitarian Ann Clwyd at a mass grave near Baghdad, a site that bore the remains of thousands executed by Saddam Hussein's regime. Among the haunting remnants, one image has stayed with me—a chi...

Trump Should Remove U.S. Troops From Syria January 20, 2025

The fall of the brutal Assad regime marks a critical opportunity for the United States to remove itself entirely from Syria, avoiding entanglement in further war. American troops have been in Syria for the past decade with the primary objective of de...

Iraq Is in for a Rough 2025 January 17, 2025

Iraq is a developing democracy, but its location — between Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Syria — means that it always faces pressure from outside its borders. ...

The Islamic State’s Global Long Game January 10, 2025

The Islamic State has evolved and expanded globally since the territorial defeat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria in 2019, enabling the organization to continue to orchestrate and inspire attacks on the West. ...

The Iran Opportunity January 06, 2025

It is hard to think of a country that has lost as much influence in as short a time as has Iran. Until recently, it was arguably the most important regional actor in the Middle East, more influential than Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, or Turkey. Yet i...

Iraq’s Yazidis Make Bittersweet Return to Sinjar January 03, 2025

Iraq’s Fight To Stay Out of the Israel-Iran Conflict November 29, 2024

As Israel and Iran clash, Iraq’s Shia leadership is trying to rein in domestic Iranian-backed paramilitaries to shield the country from becoming a new battleground in the Middle East...

Iran Focused On Syria as Lynchpin of ‘Resistance’ Axis November 21, 2024

Unlike in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon, where Iran relies on proxies, Syria’s regime is directly aligned with Tehran. ...

Iraq Launches Its First National Census in Nearly Four Decades November 20, 2024

Undercuting the Iran-Russia-China Three-Legged Stool November 14, 2024

Iran and its proxies in Iraq may soon attack Israel in retaliation for it hitting a series of military targets inside of Iranian territory. Although we are still waiting to see if and how Iran responds, Israel’s most recent operation is simply a cont...

Iranian Militias in Iraq Could Take Center Stage Against Israel November 05, 2024

Iranian Militias in Iraq Could Take Center Stage November 04, 2024

Other groups, such as Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq, are closely aligned with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and have carried out attacks on US troops in Iraq and Jordan. ...

Iraq at a Crossroads October 31, 2024

On October 4, the Israeli military announced that two of its soldiers were killed in a drone attack on the Golan Heights by Iraqi armed factions. ...

Is Maduro Even Trying Anymore? October 30, 2024

Months after Maduro was declared winner of the latest fraudulent Presidential Election in late July – in which the opposition candidates Edmundo González and María Corina Machado were confirmed as the true winners – Brazil, under the leadership of Pr...

Between Proxies and a New Attack on Israel October 30, 2024

Iran operates via proxies in several countries and territories, including Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq, and the Gaza Strip. ...

Iraq Pivots to U.S. for Support as Chinese Money Dries Up October 25, 2024

Iraq is seeking more U.S. investments to reduce gas flaring and boost gas production. ...

No, Israel Isn’t Deliberately Killing Children in Gaza October 17, 2024

In every war, children perish. It’s the worst thing about conflict, this dragging of innocents into the swirling maelstrom of tensions they don’t even understand. In Iraq, almost 10,000 kids were maimed or killed between 2008 and 2023. In the war in ...

Trump’s Mideast Strategy Likely to Rein in Wayward Iraq October 15, 2024

Cooler Heads Must Prevail Between U.S. & Iran October 11, 2024

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz recently declared, “Israel is trapping Iran and America.”If that is true, perhaps the U.S. and Iran should cooperate to extricate themselves from that trap.In the wake of the most recent exchange of fire between Israel a...

Iraq’s Young Agents of Change October 07, 2024

Five years after the start of the Tishreen movement, the current absence of a mass protest movement in Iraq should not be interpreted as a sign that young people have become less ambitious, or that they are more accepting of the status quo. ...

Iran’s Missile Barrage Fails Again October 02, 2024

What should the United States and Israel do? And the answer is straightforward: Hit them hard, take out access to their nuclear sites, take out their allies in Yemen, take out their allies in Iraq, and then take a breath, and ask the leadership of th...

Israel Should Hit Iran Where It Hurts October 01, 2024

Through its early history — but not for the last four decades and more — the main threats to Israel’s security came from its Arab neighbours. That resulted in several wars against Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq. ...

Will Iraq Follow Lebanon’s Disastrous Path? October 01, 2024

Israel’s strike on Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s long-time leader, left a void at the group’s top. While Hezbollah subsequently appointed Hashem Safieddine, a man who just weeks ago was not deemed important enough to wear a pager, his ability to fill...

The Debate Over Why the United States Invaded Iraq in 2003 September 06, 2024

A Revealing Case in Iraq August 23, 2024

In the Middle East, much of the world’s attention is on the conflict in Gaza and appropriately so.But other challenges remain. In Iraq, where American military forces liberated the country from the evil clutches of Saddam Hussein just a few years ago...

Iraq Returns to the Spotlight as Iran Prods August 21, 2024

Iran convinced Iraqi militias to carry out attacks on US forces in Iraq between October 2023 and January, including Kataib Hezbollah's drone attack in Jordan that killed three American soldiers. ...

The World Still Needs America August 21, 2024

In times of uncertainty, people reach for historical analogies. After 9/11, George W. Bush administration officials invoked Pearl Harbor as a standard comparison in processing the intelligence failure that led to the attack. Secretary of State Colin ...

The Case for a More Strategic U.S. Foreign Policy August 15, 2024

As the nation focuses on the coming presidential election, the foreign policy landscape surrounding the United States is in disarray. Israel is bracing for a retaliatory Iranian attack following their killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeah...

Attacks on Shipping & the Global Maritime Order August 14, 2024

For as long as shipping has existed, merchant vessels have been vulnerable to attacks, especially in wartime. Starting in the beginning of the twentieth century, when international trade expanded rapidly, nations signed a string of treaties to protec...

Iran’s Plans for the Region Were Interrupted by the Haniyeh Killing August 14, 2024

Following the sudden death of Iran’s president, Ibrahim Raisi, the reformist politician Masoud Pezeshkian won the snap election to replace the hard-liner, a possible successor to supreme leader Ali Khamenei.Pezeshkian campaigned on a program of chang...

Americans Injured in Iraq August 06, 2024

Rockets Fired at Iraq’s Ain Al-Asad Airbase Housing U.S. Forces August 05, 2024

Why Israel Chose To Escalate August 05, 2024

The ten-month-old war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip long ago escaped its local geography, triggering dangerous military escalations across the Middle East—deadly clashes on the Israeli-Lebanese border, Houthi assaults in the Red Sea and ...

Turkey Moves Deeper Into Northern Iraq July 09, 2024

A drone attack on Monday comes amid widening Turkish operations against PKK targets inside Iraqi Kurdistan. ...

Iraq’s Sovereignty Is in Jeopardy July 04, 2024

Yet again, a crisis in Iraq threatens to disrupt a region which has seen too much instability since Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979. ...

Iraq and America at Sudani’s Midpoint June 27, 2024

When Prime Minister Shia Sudani visited Washington in April, he wasn’t just looking for a handshake. He sought a profound shift in U.S.-Iraqi ties, aiming to transcend the security focus that has dominated the relationship and build a more multifacet...

Iran’s Grip on Iraq June 22, 2024

One of the most ironic and adverse strategic outcomes of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was the elimination of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime and the subsequent empowerment of a far more formidable U.S. opponent—the Islamic Republic of Iran. ...

Turkey Extends Flight Ban on Iraq’s Sulaimaniyah Airport for 6 Months June 12, 2024

Proxy Battles: Iraq, Iran, and the Turmoil in the Middle East April 16, 2024

Don’t Abandon Iraq April 12, 2024

Most Iraqi prime ministers serving in the past two decades have at some point asked the U.S. military to leave their country. ...

How American Can Stop the Iran Threat April 12, 2024

Tehran will continue to increase its domination of Iraq and progress towards regional domination if it is allowed to do so. ...

Can the U.S. & Iraq Move Beyond Military Ties? April 12, 2024

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani is in Washington next week with both sides hoping to expand they’re economic relationship ...

Confront Iran Now, Before It Is Too Late April 12, 2024

The Middle East is tense, with Iran considering its response to Israel’s April 1 elimination of high-ranking Quds Force officers, and a possibly decisive Israeli attack in Rafah against Hamas terrorists pending. Commentary reverberates with worries a...

America’s Failure To Learn From Germany in Iraq April 08, 2024

“By nightfall, you’ll have driven 30,000 to 50,000 Baathists underground. And in six months, you’ll really regret this.” Such a warning from a local CIA station chief would cause most policymakers to reconsider their course of action. And yet, the U....

Is Washington Serious About Leaving Iraq? March 16, 2024

So much has been reported on what the United States aims to do in the recent collision of interests between itself and Iraq. Washington’s approval in the region is at an all-time low as it continues to provide Israel with military support in its war ...

Turkey's Top Diplomat Visits Iraq And Seeks Support Against Kurdish Militant Group March 15, 2024

Turkey, Iraq To Hold High-Level talks On Security, Energy In Baghdad, Ankara Says March 13, 2024

Iraq’s Sudani Faces US Pressure To Fix Problems With Kurds Ahead Of Washington Visit March 12, 2024

Our Terrorist Ally in Syria March 11, 2024

In a recent op-ed for the New York Times, the retired General Kenneth F. McKenzie, former commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) responsible for American forces in the Middle East, called on the U.S. to continue indefinitely its mil...

Is the Campaign Against ISIS ‘Mission Accomplished’? February 29, 2024

Some in Iraq urge American troop withdrawal, citing a low likelihood of the terror group reforming to its previous strength ...

Iraq Reopens Major Baiji Oil Refinery After 10 Years of Closure February 23, 2024

Republicans Will Regret Not Helping Ukraine February 23, 2024

Ask historians to name America’s greatest foreign policy blunders, and you’ll often hear a litany of misbegotten interventions — Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and other wars that went awry. But some of America’s biggest failures have been errors of omis...

How Iraq Happened February 23, 2024

Sometimes foreign policy lies downstream from technology. When navies ran on wind, the lumber that could produce sailing ships was a prized natural resource. The arrival of steam power turned mines and coaling stations into crucial strategic assets. ...

The U.S. Must Stand by and for the Kurds February 22, 2024

Amidst the recent tragic attack on a U.S. base in eastern Syria by an Iran-backed militia resulting in the loss of six Kurdish members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), it is imperative for the United States to reevaluate its commitment to the K...

Enough with “Do Something” Foreign Policy February 21, 2024

The killing of American troops stationed in Jordan by Iranian proxies has understandably unleashed much umbrage across the U.S. There have been bipartisan calls for some sort of response, and interventionists like John Bolton have argued for strikes ...

military intervention

Iran Is Playing a Long Game, and Washington Is Losing February 19, 2024

The recent U.S. bombing campaign against Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria, in response to the Jan. 28 drone strike that killed three American troops in Jordan, did not go far enough....

U.S. Resumes Talks With Iraq on Troop Presence February 13, 2024

Netanyahu Cannot Risk Losing America’s Affection February 09, 2024

The war in Gaza marks a turning point in US policy toward the Middle East. The heavy toll exacted by the long, failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has dampened the American appetite for involvement in the region. ...

Peter Zeihan On U.S. Future Role In The Middle East February 09, 2024

Peter Zeihan explains the modern history of the Middle East and United States involvement in the region. Zeihan states why it is difficult for the United States to withdraw from the region and it struggles to resolve the growing number of conflicts....

U.S. Airstrikes in Iraq and Syria February 07, 2024

EU-NATO Countries Entirely Split Over Israel, Iran, and Houthis February 07, 2024

As the United States plunges ever deeper into a fresh Middle East conflagration — this time fighting Iran-backed non-state actors, including Yemen’s Houthis and Shiite resistance groups in Syria and Iraq — its closest allies from the EU and NATO stan...

U.S. Strikes Stoking Tensions With Iraq February 06, 2024

Uzbekistan and China Quietly Cement a Regional Alliance February 06, 2024

While the U.S., Russia and Europe are trying to quell (or aggravate) crises simultaneously in Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, Israel/Gaza, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea/Yemen, Uzbekistan and China have quietly elevated their partnership. ...

Iraq, Syria, Along With Iran, Russia, Condemn U.S. Strikes February 05, 2024

Iraq: Region Is on ‘Brink of the Abyss’ February 03, 2024

U.S. Launches Strikes Against Iranian-Linked Forces in Iraq & Syria February 03, 2024

Biden’s Strikes Were Short, but Not a Shock February 03, 2024

It was meant to sound devastating, and likely felt so to the pro-Iranian militias on the receiving end. But Friday night’s airstrikes against over 80 targets inside Iraq and Syria were — so far — a comparatively limited response to the worst loss of ...

Iran-Backed Militia in Iraq Vows To Continue Attacks on U.S. Forces February 02, 2024

U.S. Plans Retaliatory Strikes on Iranian Targets in Syria and Iraq February 02, 2024

Iraq & Iran Were Complicit on U.S. Troop Attack February 02, 2024

To keep its relationship with Iraq and protect Iran, self-defeating Biden administration compromises US forces ...

Is Washington Serious About Leaving Iraq? February 01, 2024

With the country calling for a withdrawal and the region heating up, might the U.S. military presence in Iraq finally come to an end? ...