Tag Archives: iraq

The startling developments in northern Iraq, where the militant group the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) has taken control of Mosul and other cities, highlights several troubling trends that have been evident across much of the Arab World for years. ISIS moved into Mosul and other cities swiftly and without any real combat because these underlying trends …

On Wednesday, the United States of America vowed to increase aid to Iraq, after scrambling to respond to a Jihadist offensive that has already captured two Iraqi cities and is heading towards Baghdad. Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for the State Department, said that the United States is committed to “working with the Iraqi government and leaders across Iraq to support a …

US-based consultant company Gallup this week released a new study which ranked negative emotions in 138 countries in the world for 2013. According to the study, Iraq has the “highest negative emotions” in the world; five of the top 10 nations were from the Muslim World, with four of them being Arab countries. Gallup’s method for measuring negative emotions was …

Iran on Tuesday questioned if it will be able to meet its July deadline to commit to a deal with world powers regarding its nuclear program. France said Iran’s talks with world powers on curbing its uranium enrichment program had “hit a wall”. Iran has been in talks with six world powers regarding its nuclear program. The West will extend …

32 people were killed in attacks across Iraq on Monday, including 28 people killedin northern Iraq police checkpoint by roadside bomb and a truck rigged with explosives detonated by a suicide bomber. According to Local official Shallal Abdul Baban, the blasts at a police checkpoint in Tuz Khurmatu killed 28 people and wounded 148 others, causing “great destruction”. The checkpoint …

The recent string of “elections” across the Arab world raises profound questions about the Arab world’s apparent difficulty in adopting institutions and practices of liberal pluralistic democracies. But is the problem really about the ability of Arab social values to accommodate democracy, or is there a deeper problem related to the clumsy nature of statehood that has emerged in this …

Attacks in different parts of Iraq on Wednesday led to the deaths of 14 people. The strikes are the latest in a long wave of violence that has caused more than 4,000 deaths this year already. The bombings and shootings struck in Baghdad and parts of the West and the North, leaving dozens wounded, medical and security officials said. The …

Pope Francis on Saturday will meet with Syrian refugees in Jordan and will first-hand hear horrific accounts from the Syrian civilian war. The Pope is set to make a stop at Jordan before his trip of the Holy Land. Jordan, which has a population of 7 million, has only 250,000 people who identify themselves as Christian. Pope Francis will meet …

An audio tape allegedly made by Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), sharply criticized al-Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and rejected his call for the ISIL to leave Syria. The tape also urged him to remove Abu Mohammed al-Jolani as the leader of the al-Nusra Front, the al-Qaeda’s local affiliate in the country. …

Eleven people were killed in violence as the Iraqi Armed Forces on Friday launched an operation to regain control of areas in the proximity of the militant-held city Fallujah. Anti-government forces have been in control of the city, not far from Baghdad, and parts of the provincial capital Ramadi, since January. The operation is being considered as preparation for a …