Dive into the archives.
- The Future of Syria and Jordan
As many breath a sigh of relief that the current crisis in Lebanon is over, Syria meanwhile has stopped allowing Iraqis to enter the country. As violence in Iraq drags on, the real question isn’t how many are there but for how long. Will we see festering refugee camps in Jordan and Syria? Swapping out [...]
- Recipe for Trouble
According to American Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, the referendum on the status of Kirkuk will likely be delayed.
“There is a general realization out there that, as a practical matter, it is going to be very hard to stick to the original timetable,” US Ambassador Ryan Crocker told Reuters in Baghdad late on Thursday.”The timetable [...]
- Fragmentation Part Deux
While I and many others often talk about the Kurds as being the ones pushing hardest for getting out of Iraq, this CS Monitor article proved an interesting change in coverage. The Shia, long oppressed by the central government and now, like the rest of the country, largely underserved by the government, are pushing for [...]
- More Georgians to Iraq
Georgia is doing what few would: sending more troops to Iraq. Like many other members of the Coalition of the Willing, its initial troop commitment was small, around 800 and stayed clear of danger. Yet, Tbilisi is now deploying an additional 1,200 soldiers and this time, for a more high-profile and potentially dangerous mission, patrolling [...]
- Friedman backs Chirol’s Plan
From July 3rd’s NYT, Thomas Friedman writes:
If the surge fails to pave the way for a Sunni-Shiite power-sharing agreement in Iraq, then we have to remove our troops from their areas and relocate them to the border to contain their civil war. But we should also talk to the Kurds about setting up a base [...]
- Are the Insurgents Bored?
While Al-Jazeera seems to be overlooking the car bombs found in London, this interesting piece was prominently displayed on their website:
Vigilantes target Iraq porn surfersIbraheem Abdel-Qahar was tortured and made to drink his own urine and chicken blood for looking at pornography. The Iraqi Aid Association (IAA), a Baghdad-based non-governmental organisation working with displacement, [...]
- Iraqi Kurdistan: The End of Turkey’s EU Dreams?
With weekly threats from Turkey to invade Iraqi Kurdistan, it seems the situation is becoming progressively worse. While the PKK is a problem, it is of course only the ostensible reason. In fact, free Kurds make Turkey nervous and rightly so. During my visit to Turkish Kurdistan this March, the excitement about Iraq was palpable. [...]
- Hail to the Chief
Thanks to the Chief for passing this on: Kaplan’s cover story in the American Interest. The article also announces (I believe for the first time) the title and publishing schedule for Kaplan’s next book: Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts: The American Military in the Air, at Sea, and on the Ground. The cover [...]
- Iraqi Exports to the US - GG’s in America
It seems global guerrilla infrastructure attacks aren’t just being exported from Iraq to Afghanistan, but also to the United States. This breaking news story of a disrupted plot in NYC is just a taste of what’s to come:
NEW YORK —As first reported by NewsChannel4’s Jonathan Dienst, three people were arrested and one other was being [...]
- A Vote for Kurdistan
Via Barnett and Robb
It seems as if Chirol’s Rebalancing the Middle East post has echoed throughout DC. According to the LA Times
WASHINGTON — President Bush would like to see the U.S. military provide long-term stability in Iraq as it has in South Korea, where thousands of American troops have been based for more than half [...]
