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.
Ideas
Mosul: What the Decade's Largest Battle Says About the Future of War
Here’s how Western-backed Iraqi soldiers helped break the Islamic State’s grip on a city of more than 1 million people — and what we can learn from it.
Ideas
How ISIS Will Go On Without Mosul
Long after the city is back in the hands of the Iraqi government, it will continue to be a prop for the Islamic State—although an altogether different one.
Threats
The Islamic State’s Caliphate Is Finished in Iraq, Abadi Says
In a symbolic victory, Iraqi security forces finally took back the ancient mosque where ISIS declared its caliphate back in 2014. Other operations throughout the country are still ongoing.
Policy
The Biggest Bills for the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars Are Yet to Come
Benefits for World War I veterans didn’t peak until 1969. Here’s a way to keep 21st-century vets’ expenses from eating the U.S. budget.
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