Iraq

Re: Iraq

Postby behappyalways » Tue Aug 11, 2015 12:21 pm

Yazidis left to their fate in Iraq: 'The world has forgotten us'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... en-us.html
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Re: Iraq

Postby behappyalways » Wed Nov 18, 2015 1:20 pm

Mass graves of women 'too old to be Isil sex slaves' - this is what we're up against
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens ... hting.html
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Re: Iraq

Postby winston » Fri Mar 04, 2016 7:10 pm

Mosul dam engineers warn it could fail at any time, killing 1m people

Iraqis who built dam say structure is increasingly precarious and describe government response as ‘ridiculous’

Source: The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/m ... -1m-people
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Re: Iraq

Postby winston » Tue Oct 04, 2016 6:17 am

Pentagon Paid British PR Firm US$500m To Spin Iraq War Propaganda

Source: Daily Cux

http://thecrux.com/war-profits-pr-firm- ... -iraq-war/
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Re: Iraq

Postby behappyalways » Wed Jan 04, 2017 12:42 pm

The ex-CIA agent who interrogated Saddam Hussein
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38497767
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Terrorism 02 (Dec 15 - Dec 18)

Postby behappyalways » Tue Jul 11, 2017 7:52 am

Battle for Mosul: Iraq PM Abadi formally declares victory
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40558836
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Re: Iraq

Postby behappyalways » Sun Sep 24, 2017 3:15 am

In a terrible state

Western officials are trying to avert the next war in Iraq

This time it would be between Arabs and Kurds


AS THE jihadists of the so-called Islamic State (IS) retreat, the Arab and Kurdish forces allied against it in Iraq are turning their arms towards each other. Rather than celebrate victory, Masoud Barzani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, called a referendum on independence for September 25th, not just in his constitutionally recognised autonomous zone but in the vast tracts that his forces seized from IS.

Protesting against this threat to Iraq’s integrity, Haider al-Abadi, the country’s president, gathered his commanders at Makhmour, opposite the Kurdish front lines. If the referendum went ahead, Kurdistan “might disappear”, he warned. Hoping to prevent their allies from sparring, Western mediators have stepped in. But as The Economist went to press, Mr Barzani remained committed to his referendum.

Kurdistan is far from ready for statehood. The government is steeped in debt; its coffers are empty. The Peshmerga, its vaunted fighting force, is split between multiple family-led factions. Mr Barzani, for his part, has made a mockery of the political system. He has twice extended his rule.

In 2015 he shut parliament after it tried to limit his powers and questioned how he spends oil revenues. Instead of dealing with the region’s ills ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections planned for November, he has used the referendum to distract the public and rouse nationalist fervour.

Rallies across Kurdistan have featured fireworks and fiery rhetoric. “Whatever it takes [to gain independence],” says a normally cool-headed official at a rally. A toll of half a million dead, he suggests, could be acceptable.

Neighbours all around the enclave are uniting against the Kurds. Iraqi politicians speak of closing its airspace. Fearing that the referendum will stir separatist sentiments among their own Kurds, Turkey and Iran have mulled closing their borders with Iraqi Kurdistan.

Turkey is conducting military exercises on the frontier. It could turn off the tap of the territory’s only pipeline, blocking its oil exports. Western powers are also threatening to withhold aid to Kurdistan if Mr Barzani rejects their proposals.

They are offering Messrs Barzani and Abadi a room in the American embassy in Baghdad to negotiate a deal under their auspices. Mr Abadi might endorse a process that buys him time. Mr Barzani is still hoping for a path to independence.

Many Kurds, for now at least, would prefer that their leaders focus on improving Kurdistan, rather than seceding. Even in the Kurdish capital, Erbil, the referendum has left many nonplussed. As the threat of a siege mounts—Kurdistan imports almost everything—people are stockpiling basics. Flights out of Erbil are packed. But many are feeling squeezed financially.

The referendum is “a luxury only the rich like Barzani can afford”, complains a teacher, who moonlights as a taxi driver because of cuts to salaries. Beyond Mr Barzani’s strongholds the campaign for independence has begun belatedly, if at all. In a straw poll in the main market of Sulaymaniyah, in the east, your correspondent could not find one Kurd who said he would vote.

In the Nineveh Plains, where an earthen wall splits the Arab- and Kurdish-ruled areas, other minorities view the referendum as an impossible loyalty test. “Each side is forcing us to choose when we should just abstain,” says a priest at St Joseph’s, a towering Chaldean church that serves displaced Christians in Erbil.

Mr Abadi is planning a conference for Christians to air their grievances at the end of the month. Mr Barzani is urging priests not to go. The tensions are also affecting Kurds beyond Kurdistan. Under Saddam Hussein, Baghdad was Iraq’s largest Kurdish city. Many Kurds have since drifted north, but hundreds still hold positions in the government and the army. Their loyalty has been questioned and jobs put at risk.

If violence does flare, Kirkuk may be where it starts. Its Kurds, Turkomans and Arabs have largely avoided Iraq’s identity wars. But battle-hardened Shia Arab militias have massed at the edge of the province. They will march in on September 23rd (two days ahead of the referendum) says a commander, en route to attacking Hawija, which is controlled by IS.

The province’s Kurdish governor insists that a trench and three-metre-high earthen wall, erected with Western assistance to keep IS out, will serve to repel the militias. Nevertheless, he has summoned Peshmerga reinforcements. The fighting could quickly spread along the region’s ethnic faultlines into Syria, where Arab and Kurdish forces are also competing to take land from IS.

Even if the referendum passes, Mr Barzani is not obligated to declare independence. A deal might better serve his interests. Right now, he risks ignominy if the exuberance of statehood that he has stoked should dissipate, and his people flee a failed and besieged state.

With an accord, he could boast of at last bringing evasive Iraqi officials to the table. He might yet win their agreement to restore the old subsidy for the Kurds that was cut when they began independently selling Kirkuk’s plentiful oil.

And he might add the Peshmerga to the Iraqi government’s payroll, as was done for the Shia militias. He would thus alleviate Kurdish fears of being marginalised, having served their purpose in fighting IS.

Come the election in November, Western powers are likely to turn a blind eye if the ballot is again postponed. If so, Mr Barzani could thus secure his position as Kurdistan’s pre-eminent warlord, and prolong his one-man rule.

Source: The Economist
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Re: Iraq

Postby behappyalways » Tue Sep 26, 2017 11:34 am

Iraqi Kurdistan referendum: High turnout in independence vote
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41394439
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Re: Iraq

Postby behappyalways » Mon Oct 16, 2017 7:14 pm

Kirkuk: Clashes reported after Iraqi forces advance on Kurdish-held sites
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41631697
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Re: Iraq

Postby winston » Tue Aug 07, 2018 5:52 am

Trump reimposes sanctions on Iran for its ‘malign activities’

Iranian president says US is waging ‘psychological warfare’ against his country, while EU says the move is ‘deeply regretted’

The first round of sanctions takes effect overnight, targeting Iran’s access to US banknotes and key industries including cars and carpets.

Iran’s currency has lost around half its value since Trump announced the US would withdraw from the pact.

That has ramped up tensions inside Iran, which has seen days of protests and strikes in multiple towns and cities over water shortages, high prices and wider anger at the political system.

The second phase of US sanctions, which takes effect November 5 and will block Iran’s oil sales, is due to cause more damage, though several countries – including China, India and Turkey – have indicated they are not willing to entirely cut their Iranian energy purchases.


Source: SCMP

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle- ... -ambitions
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