Threats

Deputy Commander in Iraq Misused Staff for Personal Tasks

IG absolves Brig. Gen. Rick Uribe of charges he wore unearned medals and skipped weigh-ins.

Threats

What the Long, Corruption-Enabling, Mostly Failed Afghanistan-Stabilization Effort Tells Us

It’s about managing expectations: ours about the timeline, the foreign population’s about governance.

Ideas

Counting the Dead in Mosul

The civilian death toll in the fight against ISIS is far higher than official estimates.

Threats

The War in Iraq Isn’t Done. Commanders Explain Why and What's Next

Senior US and Iraq officers say the 15-year fight isn’t quite finished and they need to ensure that another ISIS can’t rise.

Threats

The Return of the Iraq War Argument

The North Korea debate shows the enduring attraction of "preventive war."

Ideas

The Iraq War and the Inevitability of Ignorance

The U.S. is destined to keep overlearning the lessons of the last conflict.

Threats

Turkey’s Attack on Kurds Tops US Concerns in Syria, Even as ISIS Keeps Fighting

Over the past three days, the leader of U.S. Central Command and other American military commanders in the region have sounded increasingly alarmed.

Threats

The Remarkable Resilience of the Prime Minister of Iraq

In December, Haider al-Abadi declared victory over ISIS. But with Iranian militias still to contend with and tensions with the Kurds high, challenges to peace remain.

Ideas

Washington Still Doesn’t Understand Iraq

The U.S. dream of a democratic and federal Iraq is over. Appointing Iran the next boogeyman won’t help.

Ideas

America Has Become Dispensable in Iraq

The conflict in Kirkuk offers further evidence of Iran’s steady rise.

Ideas

Can the United States Broker Peace Between Iraq and the Kurds?

Washington should respond to sectarian conflict near Kirkuk by seeking to preserve a united Iraq while supporting Kurdish autonomy.

Threats

‘We're Not Taking Sides,’ Trump Tells Clashing Kurds, Iraqis

The Pentagon watches two American allies turn on each other, as Iraq’s fractious politics are laid bare once again.

Threats

Q&A: Deputy Commander of the War on ISIS

Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Robert Sofge is helping to coordinate a two-front ground war in Iraq.

Threats

'It’s Never a Good Time for the Iraqi Kurds to Become Independent’

The Turkish government believes that self-determination for the Kurds represents an existential threat to the NATO ally.

Ideas

The Only Path to Peace is a Kurdistan Independent of Iraq

A Peshmerga commander says Iraq had its chance and failed to live up to its security promises to the people of Kurdistan.

Threats

How Many US Troops in Afghanistan? Pentagon Changes How It Counts Them

A new accounting method ups the official total in Afghanistan from 8,400 to “approximately” 11,000.  

Ideas

As Independence Vote Nears, Iraqi Kurds Play a Risky Game of Chicken

Kurdistan’s president called the referendum to extract concessions from Baghdad. What if it doesn’t work?

Ideas

How Can Iraq Rebuild?

Winning the peace means paying for reconstruction — and inevitably, losing money to corruption.

Ideas

Voices from the Battle for Mosul: Podcast

We spoke with current and former US military officials about how Iraq and its allies broke ISIS’s nearly 3-year grip on Iraq's second city — and what comes next.