No regrets from the Iraqi who threw his shoes at Bush
March 28th, 20230 BAGHDAD — Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi gained fame for hurling his shoes at President George W. Bush in a news conference to show his anger at the corruption and chaos that followed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He is still furious. "The same people who entered 20 years ago with the occupier are still ruling despite...
Reassessing the U.S. invasion of Iraq 20 years later: “A big strategic error”
March 23rd, 20230 From an empowered Iran and eroded U.S. influence to the cost of keeping U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria to combat ISIS fighters, the United States still contends with the consequences of invading Iraq 20 years ago, current and former officials say. Then-President George W. Bush's 2003 decision to oust Saddam Hussein by force, the way...
Middle East flashpoints that could be affected by Saudi-Iran deal
March 17th, 20230 Here is a summary of the situation in parts of the Middle East where Iran and Saudi Arabia have been involved in proxy conflicts and which could be affected by a Beijing-brokered deal to re-establish relations between the two regional powers. Yemen In 2015, Riyadh intervened in Yemen at the head of a Western-backed coalition...
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin discusses her trip to the Middle East, painful lessons from U.S. invasion of Iraq
January 7th, 20230 U.S. Rep. Elissa Blair Slotkin (D- Holly) recently returned from a nine-day trip to the Middle East over Thanksgiving. The Congressional Delegation of House Veterans Affairs Committee members visited Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq and Lebanon. Slotkin had to miss the Lebanon portion of the trip due to President Biden’s visit to Bay City,...
Deadly clashes rage in Baghdad in Shi’a power struggle
August 30th, 20220 BAGHDAD — Iraq is seeing a fresh wave of violence in a power struggle between the powerful Shi'a cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Shi'a parties and paramilitary groups. On Thursday, clashes among rivals in the Iraqi city of Basra killed at least four people, as violence from a worsening political crisis hit the south of the country. Heavy...
Iraq makes it illegal to attempt normalizing ties with Israel
May 28th, 20220 BAGHDAD – Iraq's parliament approved a law on Thursday that will ban normalizing relations with Israel, at a time when several Arab countries have established formal ties. The Iraqi parliament has been unable to convene on any other issue, including electing a new president and forming its own government, prolonging a political...
Final results confirm Sadr’s victory in last month’s Iraqi vote
November 30th, 20210 BAGHDAD — Iraq released final results on Tuesday from last month's general election, confirming populist Shi'a cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's movement's victory as the biggest bloc, with 73 seats in the fractious 329-seat house. The Taqaddum Party, which draws support from minority Sunni Muslims, won 37 seats. Former Prime Minister...
Colin Powell, not a hero
October 22nd, 20210 — Iqbal Jassat is an acclaimed writer, analyst and commentator and one of the founding members of Media Review Network. This article, edited for style, also appears in the Palestine Chronicle Will Colin Powell be remembered as America’s hero or as a war criminal? Since his death a few days ago, there appears to be a rush to...
Cleric Sadr wins Iraq vote, former PM Maliki close behind
October 11th, 20210 Shi'a Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's party was the biggest winner in an Iraqi election on Monday, increasing the number of seats he holds in parliament, according to initial results, officials and a spokesperson for the Sadrist Movement. Former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki looked set to have the next largest win among Shi'a...
Farewell to Donald Rumsfeld, dreary war criminal
July 2nd, 20210 At 2:40 p.m. on September 11, 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld issued orders to one of his underlings. Among Rumsfeld’s thoughts: Best info fast. Good enough judge whether good enough hit SH @ same time not only UBL And: Near term target needs – – go massive – sweep it all up – Things related &...
U.S. suspects 4,000 cases of fraud in Iraqi refugee program
June 25th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. authorities pursuing a sweeping fraud investigation suspect some 4,000 Iraqis of filing fraudulent applications for resettlement in the U.S. as refugees, and they are re-examining cases involving more than 104,000 others, according to State Department reports reviewed by Reuters. More than 500 Iraqis already...
Pope Francis departs Rome for risky, historic Iraq tour
March 5th, 20210 ROME – Pope Francis left Rome on Friday to start a four-day trip to Iraq, his most risky foreign trip since his election in 2012 and the first visit by a pontiff to the country. An Alitalia airplane carrying the 84-year-old pope, his entourage, a security detail and about 75 journalists left Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport for the...
Pentagon: U.S. carries out airstrikes against Iraqi militia facilities in eastern Syria
February 26th, 20210 WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, President Biden ordered U.S. military airstrikes in eastern Syria, on the border with Iraq, against facilities belonging to what the Pentagon described as "Iran-backed militia", in a calibrated response to recent rocket attacks against U.S. targets in Iraq. The strikes appeared to be limited in scope,...
First big suicide attack in Baghdad in three years kills at least 32
January 21st, 20210 BAGHDAD — ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack in a crowded Baghdad market on Thursday, killing at least 32 people in Iraq’s first big suicide bombing in three years, authorities said, describing it as a possible sign of the reactivation of ISIS. ISIS claimed early on Friday that two of its men blew themselves up in Tayaran...
International year in review: Palestinians betrayed, calamity in Beirut, crisis in Yemen
January 14th, 20210 The following is a year in review for the top international news that we covered in 2020. Palestinians betrayed, calamity in Beirut, crisis in Yemen. Protests in Lebanon over deepening economic crisis Authorities in some of the most populous areas of Lebanon cracked down on mass protest by Lebanese expressing their frustration......
Iraq issues arrest warrant for President Trump
January 7th, 20210 BAGHDAD — A judge in Baghdad has issued an arrest warrant for President Trump for the killing of an Iranian general and Iraqi militia leader last year. The Washington-directed drone strike had killed Gen. Qassim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis outside of the capital’s airport last January. Al-Muhandis was the deputy...
Nowhere to go: Displaced Iraqis desperate as camps close
November 14th, 20200 MOSUL — Iraq has started closing camps housing tens of thousands of people, including many who fled their homes during the final battle against ISIS, but aid groups warn this could create a second wave of displacement with dire consequences. Among those having to leave are 50-year-old Umm Ahmed and her two sons, who have lived at...
U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear bid by Iraqis to avoid deportation
July 4th, 20200 WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a bid by a large group of Iraqis convicted of crimes in the United States to prevent imminent deportation to their home country, where they say they could face persecution and torture. The justices let stand a lower court’s 2018 ruling that the federal...
Metro Detroit Chaldeans make history with first museum in the world to preserve their heritage
January 26th, 20200 WEST BLOOMFIELD — While the Metro Detroit area is known nationally for its large Arab American population and its rich history, the region also is home to more than 160,000 Chaldeans according to the Chaldean Community Foundation. Chaldeans are an ethnic group from Iraq that traces their roots back more than 5,000 years to ancient......
Soleimani assassination adds new dangerous dimension to Iraq unrest
January 23rd, 20200 BAGHDAD — Iraqi Shi'a groups have exhorted Iraqis to turn out for a “million-strong” march on Friday aimed at whipping up anti-American sentiment as the United States’ struggle with Iran plays out on the streets of Baghdad. Those behind the rally have two goals in mind — to pressure Washington to pull its troops out of...
More U.S. troops leave Iraq over potential brain injuries as Trump downplays the damage
January 22nd, 20200 WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, President Trump said he did not consider the brain injuries suffered by 11 U.S. service members in Iran’s recent attack on a base in Iraq to be serious, as the American military moved more troops out of the region for potential injuries. In a statement on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command said that more......
Washington rebuffs Iraqi request to pull out troops
January 10th, 20200 BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has rebuffed an Iraqi request on Friday to prepare to pull out its troops, amid heightened U.S.-Iranian tensions following the U.S. killing of an Iranian commander in Baghdad. Iraq looks set to bear the brunt of any further violence between its neighbor Iran and the United States, its...
Iraqi PM quits after cleric’s call, but violence rages on
November 29th, 20190 BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi announced his resignation on Friday after the country’s senior Shi’a Muslim cleric urged lawmakers to reconsider their support for a government rocked by weeks of deadly anti-establishment unrest. Violence raged on in southern Iraq, however, killing at least 21 people, and protesters......
