Iraq
270 Articles
Congress’s Embarrassingly Empty (National Security) Record
This week, we learned the United States will send 250 special operations troops to the war in Syria, bringing the publicly known total number of American troops operating in the…
International Law à la Carte: Brian Egan’s Jus ad Bellum Doctrine
Last week’s speech by State Department Legal Adviser Brian Egan laying out the legal and policy rationales behind the US’s war against ISIL was largely overlooked in the mainstream…
Should (and can) the CIA use non-covert force against ISIL in Iraq and Syria?
Ken Delanian of NBC has an important new story (written and video) about an apparent interbranch dispute concerning whether the CIA should be authorized to use force against ISIL…
ISIL = Genocide, Per Secretary Kerry
Secretary of State John Kerry announced on March 17 that, in his judgment, ISIL is committing genocide against a number of minority groups in Syria and Iraq, including Christians:…
Hostile Intent and Civilian Protection: Lessons From Recent Conflicts
Is a driver speeding toward a military checkpoint launching a suicide attack or racing his pregnant wife to the hospital? Is a local man digging on a roadside at night planting…
Iraq and Syria: Prospects for Accountability
On February 10, 2016, the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission convened a congressional briefing devoted to the topic of advancing accountability for the commission of international…
The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Geographical Scope of Human Rights Law
On January 21, a British investigation concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin “probably” approved the poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died…
It’s All About the Associated Forces
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell quietly joined the battle over authorizing the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant last week. To the surprise of many given…
Reflecting on 25 Years of US Policy Towards Iraq
January marks the 25th anniversary of the first Gulf War. Many in the military look back on Operation Desert Storm with nostalgia. Objectives were limited, clear and achievable.…
Let’s Start Calling Combat Combat
On Tuesday, a Special Forces soldier died and two others were injured in a skirmish with Taliban fighters near Marjah in the Helmand province of southern Afghanistan. Al Asad air…
War: What Is It Good For? — Revisiting Strategic Questions Congress Should Ask in Debating an ISIL AUMF
As I revisited the series of 20 questions I recommended Congress consider in September 2014 regarding US strategy to combat the threat posed by ISIL, I remembered the advice an…
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum: “ISIL Is Committing Genocide Against the Yezidis in Iraq”
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) has issued an important and distressing report characterizing violence against the Yezidi people in 2014 in Iraq as amounting to genocide.…