The United States will be housing American troops at the same Iraqi base that Iran-backed Shiite militias will be using, Josh Rogin and Eli Lake reported for Bloomberg View today. Two senior administration officials confirmed to us that U.S. soldiers and Shiite militia groups are both using the Taqqadum military...

• Kindle

The United States is planning to send 400 military trainers to Iraq’s Anbar Province to help Iraqis, especially Sunni tribes, in their fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Reuters reported today. The U.S. deployment would likely entail around 400 trainers, one U.S. official said, adding an announcement...

• Kindle

Pictures of a lead Iranian military figure reportedly in Iraq’s Anbar province have raised concerns over the level of Iran’s involvement in Iraq, according to a report in the Long War Journal Monday. American military and intelligence officials indicated that Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force General Qassem Suleimani was recently Anbar, where...

• Kindle

Iranian-backed militias that are designated as terror organizations by the U.S. government are increasingly taking charge of the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Iraq in the wake of the fall of the city of Ramadi, The Washington Post reported Saturday. Iraq’s two main allies...

• Kindle

Speaking at a conference on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon argued that Iran has no interest in securing a stable Iraq, The Times of Israel reported. “He who did not allow stability in Iraq since 2003 is Iran,” Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said at the Fisher Institute for Air...

• Kindle

Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have claimed that they will lead the Iraqi campaign to free the recently captured Sunni-majority city of Ramadi from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Reuters reported today. The announcement raised fears that such a move will exacerbate sectarian strife even further. Iraq’s Shi’ite militia announced on Tuesday...

• Kindle

With the capture of the ancient city of Palmyra and the town of Al-Tanaf on the border with Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) now controls half of the territory in Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Times of Israel reported Friday: In...

• Kindle

In an appearance on CNN Monday, Jonathan Schanzer, Vice President for Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, praised the United States for its raids – like the successful raid that killed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) financier Abu Sayyaf in Syria over the weekend – but...

• Kindle

ISIS’s conquest on Sunday of the Iraqi city of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, was the result of choices made by the Iraqi government interested in preserving Shiite political power and maintaining ties with Iran, Jacob Siegel and Michael Pregent wrote today in The Daily Beast. “Ramadi is predominantly Sunni, and...

• Kindle

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is advancing in both Syria and Iraq, according to news reports published today. The New York Times reported that ISIS forces were progressing toward the city of Palmyra in central Syria. Palmyra is the location of ancient ruins, and ISIS’ progress raises concern that those ruins could be...

• Kindle