Category Archives: Iraq

Did Washington use a false pretext for its recent escalation in Iraq?

Helena · 9:56 am · 02/07/2020 · Hizbullah, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, U.S. policy

In a key piece of actual extensive, on-the-ground reporting, the New York Times’s Alissa Rubin has raised serious questions about the official US account of who it was that attacked the K-1 base near Kirkuk, in eastern Iraq, on December 27. The United States almost immediately accused the Iran-backed Ketaib Hizbullah (KH) militia of responsibility. … Continue reading Did Washington use a false pretext for its recent escalation in Iraq? →

Trump & Khamenei de-escalate. Political struggle inside Iraq continues.

Helena · 3:51 pm · 01/08/2020 · Gulf balance, Iran, Iraq, U.S. military, U.S. policy

It is less than 140 hours since Pres. Trump ordered the killing of Iran’s Qods Force chief Qasem Soleimani and Iraq’s Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Since then, the terrified world has watched as the leaders of Iran and the United States lobbed fierce rhetorical attacks against each other, leading to (quite rational) fears of a major … Continue reading Trump & Khamenei de-escalate. Political struggle inside Iraq continues. →

World poised on post-Soleimani knife-edge. Possible off-ramp emerges?

Helena · 9:24 pm · 01/06/2020 · Gulf balance, Iran, Iraq, U.S. military, U.S. policy

With the decision he made late January 2 to kill the head of the Iranian “Qods Force”, Lt.-Gen Qasem al-Soleimani, Pres. Donald Trump set the United States on a course to an upheaval– certainly political and possibly also military– of truly global impact. The first reverberations of the heightened U.S.-Iran tensions have already been felt … Continue reading World poised on post-Soleimani knife-edge. Possible off-ramp emerges? →

What do Paul Wolfowitz, Dan Kurtzer, Aaron Miller, and Prince Andrew have in common?

Helena · 8:26 pm · 11/26/2019 · Human rights, International law, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, U.S. policy

These four  privileged older white guys have all sought (and been granted) exposure in the corporate media recently. Paul Wolfowitz, one of the prime architects and advocates of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, was given this fine platform on the NYT’s opinion page in order to criticize Pres. Trump’s recent decision to withdraw (or late, … Continue reading What do Paul Wolfowitz, Dan Kurtzer, Aaron Miller, and Prince Andrew have in common? →