Threats

Eleven US Troops Were Injured in Jan. 8 Iran Missile Strike

The troops were medevaced this week to Germany and Kuwait to be treated for traumatic brain injury after experiencing concussion symptoms.

Threats

US, Iran Back Away From Conflict—For Now

The crisis appears to be cooling, at least for now, as U.S. lawmakers — and presumably the president — return their focus to the looming impeachment trial in the Senate.

Ideas

Don’t Let Iran Tensions Stop the Battle Against ISIS

My recent journey through northern Iraq revealed how fragile the region remains, and how extremism could once again take root.

Threats

Iran Launched Missiles at Iraqi Bases with US Forces, Pentagon Says

More than a dozen ballistic missiles were fired at the Al-Assad air base in Anbar province and a base in Irbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, a DOD statement said. 

Threats

Offering No Evidence, Esper Says Soleimani Attack On US Was ‘Days’ Away

Meanwhile, confusion continues over draft letter citing plans to move U.S. forces in Iraq.

Policy

Iraqi Lawmakers Ask Government to Expel US Troops

Iraq analysts say the nonbinding vote is important but removal of U.S. troops is far from a done deal.

Threats

Soleimani Strike Could Imperil US Troops In Iraq

Trump and his allies have sought to frame Iraq’s response to the strikes as a choice between Tehran and Washington, but the situation is not so black-and-white for Baghdad.

Ideas

Who’s Next? Trump Crossed a Line with Soleimani’s Assassination

The Iranian was much more than a general. Who else is the U.S. president willing to kill?

Threats

Iran’s Soleimani Killed in Trump-Ordered Airstrike

The stunning killing of the Quds Force leader follows Iranian-backed militia attacks on U.S. embassy in Iraq, and months of Tehran testing Washington’s stomach for violence.

Ideas

In Iraq, the US Gets Hit Where It Hurts

The storming of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad demonstrated that America doesn’t have a monopoly on pressure.

Ideas

An End to Magical Thinking in the Middle East

It’s time to abandon the dogma that’s driven our foreign policy and led to so much disaster in the region.

Threats

US Troops, Armor Will ‘Secure’ Oil Fields in Syria, Says SecDef in New Reversal

The U.S. might also maintain “one of our two airfields that are there,” said America’s envoy to Syria to lawmakers.

Ideas

10 Ways America’s Situation in the Middle East Will Get Worse

The Syrian pullout and the Iraqi instability are undermining U.S. national-security interests.

Ideas

Ep. 47: Mosul, revisited (part two) with Mike Giglio and Dan Gabriel

We continue our remembrance of the Iraqi and coalition forces pushing the Islamic State group out of Mosul two years ago this week.

Ideas

Ep. 46: Mosul, revisited (part one) with Omar Mohammed of Mosul Eye

This episode we travel to Paris to meet the Iraqi historian behind secretive dispatches during the Islamic State group's occupation of Mosul.

Ideas

Take It From an Iraq War Supporter—War With Iran Would Be a Disaster

It would mean repeating a mistake, only on a much bigger scale: without allies, without justification, and without any plan at all.

Threats

A Bewildering Briefing on the Iranian Threat Leaves More Questions Than Answers

A deputy commander of the counter-ISIS coalition appeared to rebut White House claims about Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

Threats

The Flash Point Between America and Iran Could Be Iraq's Militias

U.S. troops and Iran-backed fighters had an alliance of sorts in the anti-ISIS campaign. With Washington and Tehran at odds, could they turn on each other?