Iraq

Iranian propaganda gone wrong

Editor’s note: The heightened tensions with Iran offer an opportunity to examine the ups and downs of an undeclared conflict that has been going on for over 40 years. This falls into the light category.  When propaganda efforts go wrong, the effect can be hilarious indeed. Last year, as the Iranian government was celebrating the […]

Airstrike on Iranian Militia “Land Bridge” in Syria Kills 8

Unidentified aircraft pounded Iranian-backed militias on Friday in Syria, near the border with Iraq. Eight militiamen were killed by the strikes, Iraqi officials reported.  The targets were two trucks carrying ballistic missiles. This latest attack comes at a time when tensions between the United States and Iran are very high after a series of escalating […]

We almost got him: High-ranking Iranian operative survives another drone strike

The same night that a U.S. drone killed Major General Qassem Soleimani, an almost simultaneous targeted strike took place in Yemen. Its target was Abdul Reza Shahlai, a senior Quds Force operative. The drone missile missed, resulting in the escape of Shahlai, who continues to remain at large. Abdul Reza Shahlai is a senior Quds […]

Was Iran’s retaliation legal?

Following President Donald Trump’s decision to order a drone strike and kill Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani, there was considerable debate on whether or not the action was legal. But what about Iran’s response? Sovereignty A complicating factor is location. When the United States killed Soleimani in Baghdad, the Iraqi government denounced it as a violation […]

Did the Iranians shoot down the Ukranian passenger plane?

The missile strike conducted by the Iranians on the United States’ bases in Iraq as retaliation against the United States for the drone airstrike on January 3 that killed Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, Commander of the Quds Force, may have claimed unintended victims: Pentagon and intelligence officials increasingly believe that the airliner that took […]

Will the U.S. still be forced to leave Iraq?… Not anytime soon

After the Iranian missile attack on the joint U.S./Iraqi bases, many are wondering what happens next. And then, will the U.S. still be forced to leave Iraq, after Iraqi lawmakers passed a non-binding resolution to kick out American troops from the country?  First of all, some of what will transpire will have to do with […]

Perhaps next time: Why was the Iranian response so feeble?

Is this it? Is this all you can conjure, Iran? That’s what everyone must have thought this morning. The Iranian response to the killing of Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the secretive Quds Force and arguably one of the most powerful men in Iran and the Middle East, was feeble, to say the […]

Appeasement doesn’t work: We’ve been at war with Iran for 40 years

“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” ― Winston S. Churchill As about 30 rockets crashed down on joint U.S.-Iraqi bases last week where an American contractor was killed and several U.S. and Iraqi troops were wounded, Americans were still ignorant that this is what happens when you […]

Too little, too late: Iran finally responds with a mass missile strike against US bases

After days of waiting, Iran has finally responded to the killing of its top covert operations general with a mass ballistic missile attack against U.S. bases in Iraq and Jordan. On Tuesday night, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard’s Corps (IRGC), an elite branch of the Iranian military, unleashed dozens of missiles targeting three U.S. bases in […]

America goes to war with Iran… what would it look like? 

Well, in an earlier piece, I tried to tell you that open war with Iran is a really, really remote possibility. Now we’ll flip-flop it a bit (that’s the beauty of the internet) and assume that war between the United States and Iran isn’t only possible, but we will attempt to outline how it might […]

Kick out the Yankees: Iraqi parliament votes to expel US troops

In an emergency session following the death of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani, Iraq’s parliament voted to expel all American troops from their country. While the vote is non-binding, Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi has voiced his support for the move. Expressing his thanks for American aid in the fight against the Islamic State, Abdul-Mahdi said […]