Tag Archives: IRAQ

Hope for an end to Yemen civil war dashed with death of former president

The death of former Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh as he fled the capital of Sanaa has ended hopes of a possible end to Yemen’s civil war. Saleh abandoned his Houthi rebel allies on the weekend, sparking severe fighting in Sanaa. Despite having an initial advantage, Saleh’s less numerous forces were quickly overwhelmed and Saleh […]

One Euro

The Athens suburb of Koukaki is pleasant, it’s once working class roughness having long since given way to gentrification. Athens’ middle class might be doing it tough in these times of austerity and near economic collapse, but there’s not a lot of that to be seen here. That is probably why it attracts the under-employed […]

The Islamic State, Yazidis and R2P

The latest reports of a massacre of dozens, perhaps 300, ethnic Yazidis by fighters from the self-proclaimed Islamic State has again raised fundamental questions about what can – or should – be done to protect this ethnic minority. The question is all the more pressing as while the Yazidis have been threatened with genocide, the […]

Limited US options ahead of Iraq’s impending disintegration

There will no doubt be many who see the US sending 300 military advisers to Iraq, along with 275 soldiers to protect its embassy in Baghdad, as the beginning of a US re-intervention in that beleaguered country. Added to the placement of a US aircraft carrier offshore, they would be half correct. The US is […]

ISIL challenges the Mid-East’s arbitrary division

As events unfold in Iraq, the US finds itself in the curious position of moving towards effective support for Syria’s President Bashar al Assad. Having first intervened in Iraq and then folding on a threat to take action in Syria, the US faces the alternative of the break-up of the nearly century-long construction of the […]

What Australia owes Iraq 10 years after the war began

The 10-year anniversary of the Iraq war serves as a unique opportunity to measure the costs of the intervention, to assess the successes and failures of the goals of the war and to assess Australia’s obligations. Let’s start with the costs. According to official figures, 4486 US military and 319 other coalition troops died during […]

Terrorism hotspots: they're not in Afghanistan, or the West

If you had to guess the number one spot for terrorism worldwide, what would you guess? Afghanistan? According to a new document from the defence and security intelligence and analysis group IHS Janes, first prize for terrorist attacks belongs to Syria. Putting aside the pedantic untidiness of who the terrorists actually were, Syria certainly suffered […]