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Iraq Isn’t Lost to Iran
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Zalmay Khalizad, a former diplomat to Iraq, reports from Iraq after discussions with prominent Iraqis, describes the state of U.S. relations with Iraq under the Abadi government. He says the Ayatollah Sistani in Iraq prime minister Abadi, and Iraqi public opinion, now favor improved relations with the U.S. following the sectarianism promoted by prime minister Maliki and Iran's expanded role in Iraq. Other reports show Iraqi opinion in transition as the U.S. withdrawal promoted by Maliki has led to 2 million refugees, and huge dislocation of people with the expansion of Islamic State from Syria into Iraq. The change in opinion is also towards promoting better relations with Sunni countries. People in the region do not see a bright future with an increase in religious tensions that only lead to more destructive behaviours and increase in refugees. Towards the end of the Bush administration there was some hope that Iraq would see a bright future, only to see this reversed under Maliki's sectarian policies. U.S. public opinion has shifted away from any involvement following the failure of the people in the region to resolve differences and live peacefully. The cost of the wars with little gained as a result of the failure of the people in the region to work together in the common interest is a part of the public debate in the U.S. presidential election of 2016. Sectarianism in the region is the root cause of the growth of the Islamic State and the expansion of the war in Syria, and this has not only worsened the situation for the people in the region, delayed economic development given large oil resources, and left the region worse off than before. It has also led to the refugee flow into Europe worsening the situation in the European Union, adding to tensions in European societies such as France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, following terrorist attacks and political parties promoting fear of immigrants. What started as a U.S. response to terrorism originating in this region in New York, followed by the war in Iraq, has led to more convulsions in this region, a huge number of refugees, whole country populations displaced, and requires a fresh rethinking about what people in the region can do to live and work together and promote the peaceful participation of people in their own development and growth, before Western societies consider further involvement. The statement about lost to Iran in the title also suggests framing of statements in the old way that are the root of the problem. When the dust settles years from now Iranians, Iraqis, Saudis, Yemeni, Turkish, Pakistani, Indian and other Muslim societies may want to look back at this period as reflecting the dangers of getting caught up in the geopolitics of world powers, letting religious sentiment override calmer thinking, and reflect on the brighter aspects of the common Islamic heritage in Iran, Turkey, India, expressed humanly as it is always is in different ways and forms. They can also take hope and confidence in the fact that European societies have struck the same rocks and emerged calmer, wiser, and better than before.
Getting it right in Iraq in 2014-2015- Ali Khedery on Haider al-Abadi, the Dawa Party, Iran's influence in Iraq, and Iraq's tangled tortuous politics
08/15/2014
Khedery who has observed first hand the problems in Iraq, the corruption, sectarianism and the misrule of Hussein and Maliki, says it will take a change of heart in Iran, a new tolerance for different religious faiths and opinion, and good honest leadership, to turn things around. All of which are today difficult to find, making this Iraq's last chance to be an independent state. He provides a view from inside Iraq that American political and military leaders talk only in sparing terms- the enormous mistakes of Hussein, followed by Maliki and Iran, including the war in Syria, that have happened in the last 40 years. Compare this with the view presented by a military advisor such as Gen. James Jones in the WSJ calling for action in Iraq to prevent a ISIS terrorist state in the Middle East.
Grouped Articles
New York Times 08/15/2014
Next Leader May Echo Maliki, but Iraqis Hope for New Results
New York Times 08/19/2014
Will Syria Be Obama’s Vietnam?
New York Times 10/07/2014
Iraq Agrees on Kurdistan Oil Deal
Wall Street Journal 12/02/2014
Saving Iraq in the Post-Maliki Era
Wall Street Journal 12/09/2014
A United Iraq Is Pushing ISIS Back
Wall Street Journal 12/19/2014
The Iraqi army and effort to retake Ramadi in Anbar province in Dec 2015 with prime minister Abadi keeping out Shiite militias
12/23/2015
The effort by the U.S. and the Iraqi government of prime minister Abadi to keep down sectarian tensions.
Grouped Articles
Iraqi Army Makes New Push to Retake City of Ramadi From Islamic State
Wall Street Journal 12/23/2015
Wall Street Journal 03/25/2016
ISIS Is Weakened, but Iraq Election Could Unravel Hard-Won Stability
The New York Times 01/30/2018
The insurgency in Iraq in 2014 against the Maliki government's sectarian policies- the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria
06/10/2014
Mosul on the border with Syria is taken by the insurgents ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) who operate on the Syrian side against Assad. Mosul is Iraq's second largest city with different ethnic groups. Foreign fighters operating in Syria have joined the ISIS. Maliki had lost support in Mosul with his increasingly sectarian policies favoring Shiites and marginalizing Sunnis. The Iraqi forces lack training and are poorly organized compared to the insurgents fighting the Assad regime in Syria. The U.S. lost any chance of maintaining peace in the region with policies of the Obama administration distancing itself in Iraq, Syria and towards Iran's non-sectarian democracy movement. With moderates left in the cold in the region, sectarian influences are taking control and undoing the hard work of previous administrations. The hopes of the heavily young demographic oriented Middle East region in 2011-2012 for economic progress are now fading first into religious extremism and then into sectarian religious conflict, with Putin's government in Russia allowed by the Obama administration to pursue reckless policies in Syria against the interests of people in the region. A no fly zone or action of the kind taken in Libya at very small cost to the U.S. was not taken by U.S. president Obama. The failed reelection bid of Sarkozy in France left Britain's prime minister Cameron with no allies to pursue prudent policies in Syria that would have advanced democracy and economic development in the entire region.
Grouped Articles
Sunni Militants Drive Iraqi Army Out of Mosul
New York Times 06/10/2014
Wall Street Journal 06/11/2014
Iraqi, U.S. Forces Trade Barbs Over Failures
Wall Street Journal 06/12/2014
Mosul Falls to ISIS, Endangering Iraq’s Democracy
New York Times 06/11/2014
U.S. Said to Rebuff Iraqi Request to Strike Militants
New York Times 06/11/2014
Sunni Fighters Gain as They Battle 2 Governments, and Other Rebels
New York Times 06/11/2014
U.S. president Obama and handling of Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq- policy failures and corrective course
09/28/2014
Grouped Articles
Obama Acknowledges U.S. Erred in Assessing ISIS
New York Times 09/28/2014
Iraq and U.S. Find Some Potential Sunni Allies Have Already Been Lost
New York Times 11/15/2014
Months of Airstrikes Fail to Slow Islamic State in Syria
Wall Street Journal 01/15/2015
Coalition Has Reclaimed Territory from Islamic State, Kerry Says
Wall Street Journal 01/23/2015
New York Times 02/07/2015
Obama’s Dual View of War Power Seeks Limits and Leeway
New York Times 02/11/2015
U.S. arms supplies to Iraq in 2014 following the fall of Mosul to ISIS
07/30/2014
Grouped Articles
U.S. Approves More Hellfire Missiles for Iraq
Wall Street Journal 07/30/2014
With Maliki Out of the Picture, U.S. Prepares to Boost Iraq Aid
Wall Street Journal 08/16/2014
U.S. Widens Air Campaign in Northern Iraq
Wall Street Journal 08/18/2014
U.S. Embracing a New Approach on Battling ISIS in Iraq
New York Times 06/10/2015
Ex-premier Maliki on hot seat in Iraq over fall of Mosul to Islamic State - The Washington Post
Washington Post 08/17/2015
Wall Street Journal 03/25/2016
U.S.- Iraq relations in 2016
03/25/2016
Grouped Articles
Wall Street Journal 03/25/2016
U.S. Strike in Syria Raises Tensions With Iran
WSJ 04/07/2017
Haider Al-Abadi, prime minister of Iraq on progress made towards national reconciliation between Shia, Sunni, Kurds and tribes in 2014-2015
12/15/2014
Al-Abadi focusses on actions to remove the discontent that has helped the Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.
Grouped Articles
A United Iraq Is Pushing ISIS Back
Wall Street Journal 12/19/2014
In Struggle for National Identity, Iraqis Rally Around Many Flags
New York Times 12/22/2014
Iraq’s Premier Narrows Divide, but Challenges Loom
New York Times 12/15/2014
Premier Haider al-Abadi, Facing Protests, Proposes Iraqi Government Overhaul
New York Times 08/09/2015
Iraqi Army Makes New Push to Retake City of Ramadi From Islamic State
Wall Street Journal 12/23/2015
Wall Street Journal 03/25/2016
Michael Gordon and Lt. Gen. Trainor on the Endgame in Iraq and how the U.S. has fallen short of its objectives
09/04/2012
President Obama's overriding objective was winding down the war in Iraq. The Iraq the U.S. leaves behind falls short of other objectives such as maintaining a cooperation arrangement with the government and a presence in the region. Gordon and Trainor describe this in their new book.
Grouped Articles
Sectarian Attacks Return With a Roar to Iraq, Rattling a Capital Already on Edge
New York Times 08/17/2013
Surge in Iraqi Violence Reunites Maliki and Obama
New York Times 11/01/2013
Gates Faults Obama Over Afghanistan
Wall Street Journal 01/08/2014
Fledgling Iraqi Military Is Outmatched on Battlefield
Wall Street Journal 04/28/2014
U.S. Said to Rebuff Iraqi Request to Strike Militants
New York Times 06/11/2014
Veterans Watch as Gains Their Friends Died for Are Erased by Insurgents
New York Times 06/13/2014
U.S. relations with Iran following the sectarian strife in Iraq and the spillover from the war in Syria
06/16/2014
Grouped Articles
U.S. Is Exploring Talks With Iran on Crisis in Iraq
New York Times 06/16/2014
U.S. to Send Up to 300 Military Advisers to Iraq
New York Times 06/19/2014
Challengers Emerge to Replace Divisive Maliki
New York Times 06/19/2014
Iraq Crisis: Nouri al-Maliki Quits
Wall Street Journal 08/15/2014
New York Times 08/15/2014
Obama Wrote Secret Letter to Iran’s Khamenei About Fighting Islamic State
Wall Street Journal 11/07/2014
Tribes in Iraq in 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) and the Iraqi government- 2014 reversals after the U.S. supported Awakening movement
11/15/2014
Grouped Articles
Iraq and U.S. Find Some Potential Sunni Allies Have Already Been Lost
New York Times 11/15/2014
Coalition Has Reclaimed Territory from Islamic State, Kerry Says
Wall Street Journal 01/23/2015
Splits in Islamic State Emerge as Its Ranks Expand
Wall Street Journal 03/10/2015
U.S. Embracing a New Approach on Battling ISIS in Iraq
New York Times 06/10/2015
Iraqi Forces Repel Islamic State Counterattacks in Ramadi
Wall Street Journal 12/10/2015
Islamic State’s Deep, Poisonous Roots
Wall Street Journal 01/02/2016
U.S. president Obama's response to the San Bernardino terrorist attack in December 2015 and the loss of credibility with the American public of Syria-Iraq policy
12/07/2015
Grouped Articles
Terrorist Threat Has ‘Evolved’ Into a New Phase, Obama Says
Wall Street Journal 12/07/2015
Donald Trump Calls for Ban on Muslim Entry Into U.S.
Wall Street Journal 12/08/2015
How to Defeat ISIS Now—Not ‘Ultimately’
Wall Street Journal 12/08/2015
Dissensus, the Spirit of Our Age
Wall Street Journal 12/08/2015
Along with Trump’s rhetoric, the stakes for 2016 have risen dramatically - The Washington Post
Washington Post 12/09/2015
Fixing Obama’s Antiterror Credibilty Gap
Wall Street Journal 12/09/2015
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