Tag - iraq

 
 

IRAQ

WORLD
Jun 17, 2014
Any airstrikes on Iraq will be risky for Obama
The airstrikes that President Barack Obama is considering against Islamic militants in Iraq could prove as messy and inconclusive as the war the U.S. thought had ended in 2011.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2014
A window of opportunity opens for Iraq's Kurds
If the Kurds of Iraq play their cards right, they could end up with the borders they want, fully recognized by a government in Baghdad that has been saved from ISIS fanatics by Kurdish troops.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2014
Sectarian monster reawakens
The systematic political marginalization of Iraq's Sunni communities demands the establishment of a new political and social contract to re-order the mess created by the U.S. invasion and Iran's intervention.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 17, 2014
U.S. may have to 'drink poison' on Iran
President Barack Obama and the overstretched U.S. may have to decide whether to settle with Iran on the nuclear issue because that would be better than watching the Middle East descend into chaos.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2014
Urge to declare a quick win threatens security
The American urge to declare victory when nobody has won, to divide factions into fast friends and evil enemies, to ground complex decisions into simple, overriding principles rather than complex trade-offs poses a security risk.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2014
The blame for Iraq can wait
American efforts to assign immediate blame for Iraq's unraveling carry with them a whiff of the can't-do spirit — as if, unsure how to proceed in the world, we turn on each other instead.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 16, 2014
Heavy fighting in northwestern Iraq as Islamists advance
Sunni insurgents seized a mainly ethnic Turkmen city in northwestern Iraq on Sunday after heavy fighting, solidifying their grip on the north after a lightning offensive that threatens to dismember Iraq.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2014
Iraq military meltdown blamed on graft, politics
The Iraqi Army that disintegrated under an onslaught by Islamist fighters last week was a hollow force, riven by corruption, poor leadership and sectarian splits — a shadow of the military Washington had hoped to leave in the war-ravaged country.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2014
ISIS push lessens chance of detente between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran
Last week's advance by Sunni insurgents in Iraq provides a powerful argument for why Iran and Saudi Arabia should bury their Cold War-style feud, but is nonetheless likely to set back detente between the Persian Gulf's dominant Sunni and Shiite powers.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2014
ISIS leader fights to supplant al-Zawahri as world's deadliest terrorist
The leader of radical Sunni fighters who have made rapid military advances in Iraq is the rising star of global jihad, driven, Islamist fighters say, by an unbending determination to fight for and establish a hard-line Islamic state.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2014
No good options for Mosul
The Iraqi Army will have to destroy Mosul in order to save it — and it's not clear whether it can do the job even then.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2014
Iraq insurgent advance slows, U.S. sends carrier to Gulf
An offensive by insurgents that threatens to dismember Iraq seemed to slow on Saturday after days of lightning advances as government forces regained some territory in counterattacks, easing pressure on the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 14, 2014
Iraq's top Shiite cleric issues call to fight jihadist rebels
Iraq's most senior Shiite Muslim cleric urged followers to take up arms against a full-blown Sunni militant insurgency to topple Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a conflict that threatens civil war and a possible break-up of the country.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 14, 2014
Obama faces limited options, doubts over airstrikes in Iraq crisis
Two and a half years after President Barack Obama disentangled America from a long, unpopular war in Iraq, his options for helping the government in Baghdad stave off a militant onslaught are slim as doubts simmer over whether even punishing airstrikes would be effective.
EDITORIALS
Jun 13, 2014
Iraq collapsing
Islamic militants have overrun northern Iraq, taking control of the country's second-largest city and sparking fears of the collapse of the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 13, 2014
Obama does not rule out airstrikes against Iraq insurgents
The United States is not ruling out airstrikes to assist the Iraqi government fight a growing radical Islamist insurgency, President Barack Obama said on Thursday, raising the possibility of the first American military intervention in Iraq since the end of the U.S.-led war.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 12, 2014
Al-Qaida splinter group advances in Iraq, takes Saddam's hometown
Sunni rebels from an al-Qaida splinter group overran the Iraqi city of Tikrit on Wednesday and closed in on the biggest oil refinery in the country, making further gains in their rapid military advance against the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2014
Sunni-Shiite divide pre-empts tranquil future
As long as Sunnis and Shiites refuse to think about their past together, it is difficult to foresee a tranquil future for Iraq.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 30, 2014
Iraqis vote as spasm of violence hits nation
Iraqis headed to the polls on Wednesday in their first national election since U.S. forces withdrew from the country in 2011, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki seeks a third term amid rising violence.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2014
Before Iraq polls, Shiite militias unleashed war on Sunni insurgents
The Sunni militants who seized the riverside town of Buhriz late last month stayed for several hours.

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