Donald Trump’s forthcoming foreign policy challenges

You may love him. You may hate him. Either way, Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. The tasks ahead of him are enormous. Most of the early focus has been on what he will do in regard to domestic policy. Abroad, however, he will find the challenges no less daunting. President […]

ISIS drones take the IED to Western troops

IEDs, or Improvised Explosive Devices, have been responsible for three out of five combat deaths in Iraq since the start of the Iraq war in 2003.  These bombs come in a variety of forms, often concealed near or beneath driving surfaces to be detonated remotely when poised to do the most possible damage, but recent […]

Iraq has never seen this kind of fighting in its battles with ISIS

MOSUL, Iraq — Since pushing into Mosul a week ago, Iraqi commanders say their forces have been shaken by some of the most complex fighting they have ever encountered in battles against the Islamic State. It is a bitter fight: street to street, house to house, with the presence of civilians slowing the advancing forces. […]

‘Crashing waves’ of jihadis, fray nerves in Mosul.

A week after his tank division punched through Islamic State defenses on the southeast edge of Mosul, an Iraqi army colonel says the fight to drive the militants out of their urban stronghold is turning into a nightmare. Against a well-drilled, mobile and brutally effective enemy, exploiting the cover of built-up neighborhoods and the city’s […]

Mosul: Nearly 300 kidnapped by ISIS west of city, UN says

ISIS has abducted nearly 300 people from Tal Afar, a city west of Mosul, as Iraqi forces push to liberate the region from the terror group, the United Nations says. Citing credible reports received by her office, Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency, said 295 people had been kidnapped in Tal Afar, a […]

Mass grave containing 100 decapitated bodies found in town south of Mosul

A mass grave containing the remains of about 100 beheaded civilians has been discovered inside a school in a town south of Mosul, Iraq’s military said in a statement Monday. The mass grave was found by Iraqi forces in the School of Agriculture on the outskirts of Hammam al-Alil, a town that was recaptured from […]

Casualties mount as Iraqis press deeper into Islamic State-held Mosul

Zahida Fathi sat on a military-issued cot, rocking back and forth and repeating the names of the dead — her husband and six of her children, killed when a car bomb exploded near their home as they were trying to flee clashes between Iraqi forces and Islamic State fighters in the city of Mosul. “They […]

Turkish, U.S. military chiefs discuss Syria and Iraq operations

The heads of the Turkish and U.S. armed forces discussed joint strategies against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq during a meeting in Ankara on Sunday, the Turkish military said in a statement. Turkish chief of general staff Hulusi Akar met his U.S. counterpart Joseph Dunford hours after U.S.-backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF) launched an […]

ISOF should be source of U.S. national pride

The ISOF has been such a success that it ought to be widely known and a source of national pride. It’s time to feel good about our work. ISOF is doing the heavy lifting of U.S. Foreign Policy in Iraq. We’ve sent a great many service members over, but they aren’t in the fight. The […]

Iraqi Special Forces kill eight ISIS Militants in Mosul as civilians cleared out

Iraqi special forces paused their advance in an eastern district of Mosul on Wednesday to clear a neighborhood of any remaining Islamic State militants, killing eight while carrying out house-to-house clearances. Six of the militants were killed inside a tunnel in the newly-recaptured Gogjali neighborhood, while the other two were shot dead as they advanced […]

Saddam Hussein’s palace converted into a museum

When Yazan Fadhli introduces himself to people and mentions that he’s from Iraq, his homeland conjures questions about the Islamic State, sectarian violence, chemical weapons and car bombs. Yet the area he’s from is considered the cradle of civilization, the birthplace of mathematics, astronomy and medicine, and the site of wave upon wave of great […]