Why is Baghdad funding pro-Iran militias?
Iraq is about to approve a budget that allocates $2.8 billion to the Shia militias known as the Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU), marking an increase of $600 million from the previous budget in 2021.
Green Zone
Clashes Erupt in Iraq in Response to Sadr’s Resignation
Supporters of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stormed Baghdad’s Green Zone on Monday and clashed with security forces, leaving at least 30 dead and 400 wounded. The conflict...
Flash Briefs
The Trump Administration’s High-Stakes Gambit to Curtail Rocket Attacks in Iraq
In an unexpected announcement on October 10, a group of Iran-backed Shiite militia groups declared their intention to suspend forthwith their attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq, while conditioning the ceasefire’s...
Insights
How America Can Avoid a War of Attrition with Iran
This is what Washington can learn from Jerusalem’s Campaign Between the Wars.
Op-eds
Collecting and analyzing Shiite militia attacks against the U.S. presence in Iraq
There is a growing consensus that attacks against U.S. facilities and personnel in Iraq by Iran-backed Shiite Militia Groups (SMGs) are increasingly becoming a “new normal.” These attacks ebb and flow...
Op-eds
Iraq Needs Regime Change Again
Musical chairs in the Iraqi parliament can no longer solve the country's problems.
Op-eds
U.S. bases in Iraq targeted in rocket attacks
US troops in Iraq have been targeted three times in mortars and katyusha rocket strikes since last weekend. The attacks have occurred in the middle of rising tensions between the United States and Ira...
Op-eds
U.S. adds Iranian-backed Shia militia and its leader to list of global terrorists
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Op-eds
What to Do When Your Man Just Won’t Commit, Baghdad Edition
I've been highly critical of President Barack Obama’s tenure as America’s commander in chief. But his shortcomings in this regard hardly came as a shock. Start your presidency wi...
Op-eds
Good Friends are Hard to Find: Why the US Should Support Mithal Alusi and Kurdistan
I know. Foreign policy has been largely an afterthought in the presidential campaign. Iraq, for all intents and purposes, is off the radar screen entirely -- except as a Democratic talking point,...
Op-eds
Relative peace in Baghdad remains fragile as troops carry out counterinsurgency plan
BAGHDAD, IRAQ: It's near noon on a Friday in Northeast Baghdad and the neighborhoods the U.S. military calls Muhallahs 535 and 734 are quiet. It's the weekend, and many adults are...