ISIS Has Not Vanished. It Is Fighting a Guerrilla War Against the Iraqi State.

The knock came one night late last year, a persistent bang on the metal door. The family inside shuddered as the sound echoed through the sparsely furnished farmhouse. Officially, their village had been liberated from the so-called Islamic State in October 2017, along with the nearby town of Hawija. But the military campaign had been hasty. The militants had sought refuge in the nearby mountains, leaving Iraqi forces to sweep through the area unchallenged.

The Kurds’ Bitter Defeat In Iraq Is Now Everyone’s Problem

The collapse came quickly and unexpectedly.

For weeks on end, Kurdish politicians, soldiers and activists had appeared absolutely determined to fight for an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq.

Defying fierce opposition from the Iraqi government and the international community alike, the Kurdistan Regional Government on Sept. 25 organized a referendum on independence that received overwhelming support from Kurdish voters. Kurdish leaders refused to back down following the contentious vote, ignoring mounting threats and warnings from Baghdad to cancel its outcome.

In Iraqi Kurdistan, Voting on Independence and Bracing for Violence

Across Iraqi Kurdistan, a scene is starting to become familiar: young and old alike fill the public squares and parks clad in Kurdish dress, furiously waving Kurdish flags in a rallying cry for independence.

“Long live Kurdistan!” they chant.

Will Iraqi special forces get away with murder?

Will they get away with murder?

As the world absorbed the impact of images bearing witness to torture in the fight against Daesh, the leader of an Iraqi special forces unit with blood on its hands gleefully admitted to the worst, boasting that the disclosure of his “mistakes” will make him only more famous.

The staggering sense of impunity among at least some fighters that Canada and its coalition-partners have singled out for praise in the battle against Daesh (also known as ISIS) emerged early Friday, as Capt. Omar Nazar of the Iraqi Emergency Response Division took proud ownership of the damning evidence exposed in separate investigations by the Toronto Star and ABC News.

Turkey targets Kurdish fighters in Iraq and Syria

Turkish military jets have carried out air strikes against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters in northern Iraq and northeast Syria, killing at least 70 people, according to a Turkish military statement.

A statement released by Turkey's air force said that it carried out the air strikes against PKK targets located in the Sinjar Mountains region in northern Iraq and in Karachok Mountains in northeastern Syria on Tuesday.

Donald Trump Ridiculed Iraq War Position Held By His VP Pick, Mike Pence

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has made the decision to go to war in Iraq a major foreign policy litmus test, concluding that Hillary Clinton was “trigger-happy” for supporting what he called a “disaster.” But his apparent vice presidential pick, Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Pence, was a major proponent of that conflict.

Now the truth emerges: how the US fuelled the rise of Isis in Syria and Iraq

The war on terror, that campaign without end launched 14 years ago by George Bush, is tying itself up in ever more grotesque contortions. On Monday the trial in London of a Swedish man, Bherlin Gildo, accused of terrorism in Syria, collapsed after it became clear British intelligence had been arming the same rebel groups the defendant was charged with supporting.

"Boots on the Ground" in Iraq: Here We Go Again

In September of 2014, President Obama went all the way around the block and back again trying to explain how the United States and its allies would destroy ISIS (also known as Daesh) without deploying soldiers. Airstrikes would do the trick. "No boots on the ground," he said.

After his proclamation, I wrote this:

    The fact that ISIS controls Mosul is not compatible with the idea that air strikes alone can accomplish the president's plan. Ground troops will be required to ultimately accomplish the stated goal, and since we seem to be in this applecart pretty much by ourselves, it isn't difficult to guess which uniform those ground troops will be wearing.

How The World’s Biggest Bribe Scandal Unfolded In Iraq

The Bagman

There was little about the man walking through Heathrow Airport to show he held secrets that could bring down some of the most powerful men in Iraq.

Moustached, olive skinned, hair receding, eyes sharp. His name was Basil Al Jarah. His British passport showed he lived in Hull, an unremarkable town in the north of England, but it bore the stamps of a frequent traveller: London, Baghdad, Basra, Amman, Paris, Istanbul, Kuwait.

The Meeting That Never Was: One UN Weapons Inspector's Effort to Educate Hillary Before Her Iraq Vote

America heads to the polls tomorrow as part of "Super Tuesday," and supporters of Hillary Clinton hope they will be able to cement the inevitability of her status as the Democratic Party's nominee for president of the United States with an impressive victory. Politicians like to live in the moment, and Hillary Clinton is no different, cloaking herself in the aura of a woman who is well positioned to make the hard choices of governance based upon her "experience, wisdom, skepticism, and humility." But Hillary's "moment" was shaken to the core by the resignation Sunday -- two days before the "Super Tuesday" contests -- of Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a veteran of the Iraq War, from her position as vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

Post-war Iraq: 'Everybody is corrupt, from top to bottom. Including me'

Iraq’s anti-corruption chief sat in his office, waving his hands in exasperation. “There is no solution,” he said. “Everybody is corrupt, from the top of society to the bottom. Everyone. Including me.”

Coming at the start of a conversation about Iraq’s ailing governance, and what was being done to turn things around, Mishan al-Jabouri’s admission was jarring. “At least I am honest about it,” he shrugged. “I was offered $5m by someone to stop investigating him. I took it, and continued prosecuting him anyway.”

How The Iraq War Led To The Paris Attacks

WASHINGTON -- One Middle East catastrophe apparently wasn't enough for some supporters of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. So they've continued to try to shape policy relating to the region, offering punditry in the wake of each fresh crisis.

It wasn't a surprise, then, that they seized on last week's tragic attacks in Paris to argue that the Islamic State group could only be eliminated by their preferred mode of U.S. intervention: large-scale troop deployment.

Now the truth emerges: how the US fuelled the rise of Isis in Syria and Iraq

The war on terror, that campaign without end launched 14 years ago by George Bush, is tying itself up in ever more grotesque contortions. On Monday the trial in London of a Swedish man, Bherlin Gildo, accused of terrorism in Syria, collapsed after it became clear British intelligence had been arming the same rebel groups the defendant was charged with supporting.

The prosecution abandoned the case, apparently to avoid embarrassing the intelligence services. The defence argued that going ahead with the trial would have been an “affront to justice” when there was plenty of evidence the British state was itself providing “extensive support” to the armed Syrian opposition.

Hillary Clinton Hasn’t Learned a Thing From the Iraq Experience

As the first Democratic presidential debate drew to a close, moderator Anderson Cooper posed a question to Hillary Clinton: How might her presidency differ from Barack Obama’s?

Clinton smiled. “Well, I think it’s pretty obvious,” she replied to rapturous applause. “Being the first woman president would be quite a change from the presidents we’ve had.”

Indeed, a Hillary Clinton presidency would shatter the glass ceiling for women in the United States. But it would also leave intact the old boys’ military-industrial complex that’s kept our nation in a perpetual state of war for decades.

Justin Trudeau Tells Obama He Plans To Wind Down Mideast Combat

WASHINGTON — Justin Trudeau's first-day foray into international relations included informing the U.S. president that he'll carry out his campaign promise to withdraw from Canada's combat mission in the Middle East.

Without offering details on the timing of the bombing-mission scaledown or what role Canada might play next, Trudeau said the country would remain involved in other aspects of the fight against Islamist rebels.

Fox News Embarrasses Dick Cheney On Iraq And Iran

Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday shrugged off the rapid growth of Iran's nuclear capacity during the Bush years, insisting that the American invasion of Iraq had curbed Iranian nuclear ambitions.

"There was military action that had an impact on the Iranians when we took down Saddam Hussein," Cheney said on "Fox News Sunday." "There was a period of time when they stopped their program because they were afraid what we did to Saddam we were going to do to them next."

Dick Cheney Still Has 'No Apologies' For Going Into Iraq

WASHINGTON -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney has no regrets over his administration's decision to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein.

"It was the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I believe it now," Cheney said Tuesday in an interview on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360."

"No apologies," he added.

The Iraq War became an issue in the presidential campaign earlier this year, when former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, brother of Cheney's former boss, George W. Bush, struggled to elucidate his position on the costly mission. After a week of bungled answers, Jeb Bush finally said that "knowing what we know now, ...I would not have engaged. I would not have gone into Iraq."

However, later in August, the former Florida governor appeared to backtrack on that statement somewhat when he said that taking out Hussein "turned out to be a pretty good deal.”

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com/
Author: Igor Bobic

Canadian Fighter Pilots Accused Of Killing Civilians

The Globe and Mail says Canadian fighter pilots have been accused of killing civilians in a January air strike in Iraq, though it's unclear who is making the allegation.

The Canadian Armed Forces told The Globe that they have found no evidence to support the allegation, but encourage anyone with information to come forward.

The military tells the newspaper that the accusation was made by someone who "heard of these potential casualties through a second-hand account," but gives no further details.

Canada's CF-18 Hornets have been involved since late last year in a U.S.-led air bombing campaign to help Iraqi troops reclaim ground captured by extremists.

Canadian fighter aircraft also began air strikes in Syria in April.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca/
Author: CP

Kenney ‘not made aware’ of Iraq air strike allegations against Canadian fighter pilots

Defence Minister Jason Kenney says the military never told him Canadian fighter pilots had been accused of killing civilians when they bombed an Islamic State fighting position on Jan. 21.

It’s a startling admission from the Conservative minister because the Harper cabinet member is effectively saying the Forces kept him out of the loop.

Chilcot inquiry: blame will be spread beyond Blair's inner team, sources say

Sir John Chilcot is to apportion blame for Britain’s role in the Iraq war much more widely than had been expected, going well beyond Tony Blair and his inner team, according to sources involved with his six-year inquiry.

While Blair will bear the brunt of the report’s criticism, one source said it would suit the former prime minister to see a wide range of targets blamed when it is published.