The death of Osama bin Laden comes at a time when al-Qaeda in Iraq has been shifting strategies in an effort to recoup from years of setbacks.
Al-Qaeda’s Line of Succession: the View from Iraq
Tag Archives: iraq
Nothing Went According To Plan
As soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division moved into positions around An Najaf two weeks ago, one of their commanders learned that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had just told America that everything was going exactly as planned. Colonel Hodges, the 1st Brigade Commander, laconically replied, “Funny, I don’t remember ever rehearsing the Battle of An Najaf.” The reality is that no one expected that U.S
The Secret Letter From Iraq
CLARIFICATION APPENDED Written last month, this straightforward account of life in Iraq by a Marine officer was initially sent just to a small group of family and friends.
Iran: Could the MEK Be Evicted from Camp Ashraf by Iraqi Military?
For years, Iraq’s increasingly pro-Iranian government has threatened to evict the 3,400 Iranian members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq , a fiercely anti-Tehran group, from its sprawling former military base at Camp Ashraf, some 40 miles from Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, and 50 miles from the Iranian border. Despite the heated rhetoric, however, Baghdad has never fully articulated how it will uproot the exiles — who refuse to leave their decades-old enclave — beyond saying it will not forcibly do so
WikiLeaks’ War on Secrecy: Truth’s Consequences
The Army says it was a crime.
Muqtada al-Sadr
In August 2004 Muqtada al-Sadr looked finished. Four months earlier, his Mahdi Army had risen up against U.S.
Arlington’s Burial Mix-Ups: Will the Army Fix the Problem?
On a recent, unusually warm late-winter day, a young woman sat quietly at the foot of a white headstone at Arlington National Cemetery, among a cluster of graves of troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The woman, maybe 25 years old, sat in the grass, hugging the headstone.
Obama Sticks to a Deadline in Iraq
Obama Sticks to a Deadline in Iraq When President Obama approved a plan to withdraw combat forces from Iraq this summer, it was based on the assumption that a newly elected government would be in place by the time Americans headed home. Fourteen months later, that assumption is exploding but the plan remains the same. […]
Iraq: Influential Shiite Bloc Picks Side Not on the Ballot
Iraq: Influential Shiite Bloc Picks Side Not on the Ballot In a poll released Wednesday, the two front-runners vying to become Iraq’s next prime minister failed to get the support of the influential Shiite movement led by the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr. The bulk of Mr. Sadr’s supporters said he should back the Shiite politician […]
Can the U.S. Woo Afghanistan Taliban to Switch Sides?
While much of the focus on Tuesday’s unveiling of President Obama’s revamped Afghanistan strategy will be on the number of U.S. troops he’s expected to send, that decision is really a sideshow to the critical battle now under way on the ground.