Iraq hostage to sectarian forces
Iraqi Sunni Muslims take part in an anti-government demonstration in Falluja, 50 km (31 miles) west of Baghdad, February 22, 2013. Thousands of Sunni Muslims protested after Friday prayers in huge rallies against Shi'ite Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, demanding that he step down. The Iraqi National Alliance is facing a series of crises. It se…
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Iraq Back at the Brink
Soon after the joint US-British bombing campaign “Operation Desert Fox” devastated parts of Iraq in December 1998 , I was complaining to a friend in the lobby of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. I was disappointed with the fact that our busy schedule in Iraq – mostly visiting hospitals packed with injured or victims of depleted uranium – left me no time …
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11 killed in 2 Iraq bombings
Two bomb blasts nearly 150 kilometers apart killed 11 people Monday night, officials said, as Iraq's death toll continued to climb in the second bloodiest month since U.S. troops withdrew late last year. Officials and experts fear the surge in violence may signal Iraq's potential descent into a failed state, despite its oil wealth, billions …
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Syria: The Shiite Sunni Battleground
In a late 2011 article , I argued that Syria's upheaval thrusts Turkey and Iran into a collision course because they have opposing geostrategic interests in an outcome that neither party can afford to ignore. Four months later, it has become increasingly clear that the Syrian uprising transcends Iran's and Turkey's strategic interests, as it …
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Iraqi-American woman slain buried
An Iraqi-American woman found bludgeoned to death in her California home last week with a threatening note left beside her body has been buried in her native Iraq. Family members wept uncontrollably by her graveside and her father asked God to exact revenge on those responsible for her death. A relative called on Iraq's government to take quick action …
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Baghdad hit by deadly bombings
A wave of car bombings hit the Iraq capital on Tuesday, killing 14 people and wounding more than 70 as violence surges in the country amid an escalating political crisis a month after the U.S. military withdrawal. At least 170 people have died in attacks since the beginning of the year, many of them Shiite pilgrims attending religious commemorations. The l…
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Arise the heroes of the people
A hero is a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his or her deeds and noble qualities, while in the opinion of others, has performed a heroic act that is regarded as a model or ideal that we could each aspire too, as Karl Marx so eloquently stated "Men make their own history but not in circumstances of their choosing". Its har…
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