Iraq

Sometimes I struggle to explain why none of the endless wars can ever be ended. Are they just too profitable? Is the propaganda self-fulfilling and self-believing? Is the bureaucratic inertia that powerful? No combination of semi-rational motivations ever seems sufficient. But here’s a potentially relevant fact: there are still people… »

The Pope’s decision to visit Mesopotamia must be carefully considered, given the complexity of the geopolitical issues of the Near and Middle East. The Pope went to a place that is the scene of a geopolitical clash, where there are armies of foreign powers loathed by the local populations, where… »

Lebanon’s Hezbollah on Tuesday hailed Pope Francis’ visit to Iraq and his meeting with Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani. Both religious leaders agreed on the need to ease the suffering, injustice, oppression, poverty, religious and intellectual persecution, wars, violence and displacement that many have been facing in various countries,… »

Jim Murphy Trending human rights tweets this week: Europe’s Guantanamo; Azerbaijan mistreats Aremenian POWs; dangerous escalation in Hong Kong; and HRW’s call for the US to halt weapons sales to the UAE. Europe's Guantanamo: At least 640… »

In their talks at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies in Oslo on 10 December 2018, the co-laureates, Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege urged concerted global action to stop rape and sexual violence as weapons of war. Dr Denis Mukwege has become an eloquent spokesperson… »

By Christopher Cramer Since the start of the Vietnam War, Noam Chomsky, an emeritus Institute Professor and Professor of Linguistics at MIT, has become increasingly popular with time. By 1992, the Arts and Humanities Citation Index declared him the most cited living person and the eighth most cited person of… »

Fifteen years have passed since President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and a coterie of neoconservatives, enabled by mainstream media cheerleaders, launched the invasion of Iraq with a murderous bombardment of Baghdad they branded “shock and awe.” Far from delivering the promised freedom and democracy and exposing stockpiles… »

By Jordan Shilton Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered an offensive by Iraqi army units and pro-government Shia militias Monday to capture the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and surrounding areas from the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). The attack, which reportedly provoked clashes in some areas between Iraqi units and Peshmerga… »

A New Zealand general has confirmed that the US-led coalition fighting in Mosul has used munitions loaded with white phosphorus. It comes amid mounting criticism over the use of the multipurpose weapon, which can be extremely dangerous to civilians. Over the past few weeks an increasing number of claims have… »

To understand the situation of today’s Middle East, it’s necessary to review a century of history. It’s necessary to go back to the aftermath of the First World War to see a large part of the geopolitical data that explains the multiplicity and entanglement of the present conflicts. One thing… »