Covert Contact Iraq’s Consolidation and the Kurds Iraq has made surprising gains in its effort to undermine or eliminate Kurdish autonomy since mid-October when we first visited this issue. Phillip Smyth joins me again to look at recent developments and the potential implications.
Covert Contact The Kurdish Problem Phillip Smyth joins me to look at the complexities surrounding the Kurdish drive for independence and how that looks to play out given the recent setback.
Iraq Ambassador Lukman Faily on Iraq's Future, the Travel Ban, and ISIS Lukman Faily served as Iraq’s ambassador to the United States for three years. He left that post, and the Iraqi Foreign Service, in 2016. A lot has transpired since our last chat and we plan to follow this short exchange with a more in depth discussion on Covert Contact soon.
Iraq Letters from Operation Desert Shield I was digging through some old boxes this evening and found some letters that have been stashed away for twenty-five years. The letters themselves don’t reveal much but it struck me how
Iraq Iraq's Ambassador to the United States, Lukman Faily, Updates Blogs of War on the ISIL Threat Ambassador Faily was kind enough to take some additional questions. I originally submitted these questions to him the day before there were widespread reports of, if not a coup, at least a difficult
Iraq The Islamic State Will Not Survive - Despite Its Big Gains I am firmly in the camp which believes that ISIS, now known as the Islamic State, has overplayed its hand. They’re smart, organized, well-led, and now resource rich but they are also
Iraq ISIS Declares Caliphate - Rebrands as "The Islamic State" It was clear that ISIS was on a mad dash to consolidate power. They have worked overtime to leverage the spoils of war, new recruits and recent territorial gains. But yesterday’s announcement
Iraq A Brief Chat with Iraq's Ambassador to the United States, Lukman Faily Ambassador Faily and I have traded tweets for some time now but I am honored that he agreed to take time out what must be an overwhelming schedule to answer a very short
Iraq Why The Spectacular Success of ISIS Will Be Its Eventual Undoing No Western politician wants to commit forces to Iraq right now. The world has demonstrated an amazingly high tolerance for terrorism and bloodshed in the country. And the current leadership is showing every
Iraq Understanding ISIS and Their Rampage Through Iraq There is a widespread tendency for people to refer to any frightening group of Islamists as al-Qaeda. It’s sort of like Texans referring to any sort of soft drink as a “coke”
