Iraq

Leaked documents from the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs show that the government has planned to fly Islamic State extremists and their children back to Finland.

A report at RealClearPolitics (RCP) on Wednesday charged that bureaucrats in the U.S. State Department under the Obama administration deliberately thwarted aid programs for Christians and Yazidis subjected to genocidal attacks in Iraq by the Islamic State. The entrenched bureaucratic “resistance” to these programs has continued throughout the Trump administration.

Pope Francis promised his closeness and prayers for victims of a violent crackdown on citizen protests in Iraq after distancing himself from similar protests taking place in Hong Kong.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Madhi announced his resignation on Friday in an address broadcast on state television. He did not specify exactly when his resignation would take effect, but the Iraqi parliament will meet on Sunday to begin the process of choosing a successor.

Protest movements are sweeping the world, from Hong Kong to Iraq. Protesters in each country are aware of the other movements and frequently give them shout-outs or adopt their tactics. The fate of all these movements is uncertain, but they share a more unambiguous commitment to sovereignty than most global protest stories of the past few decades, and perhaps an understanding that national and cultural identity are vital weapons against authoritarian hegemonic powers. Smaller governments may not guarantee freedom and human rights, but big ones almost guarantee their absence.

Security forces killed 13 protesters on Sunday in one of the bloodiest days of the Iraqi protest movement, now in progress for almost two months.

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, made a Saturday morning surprise visit to troops based in Iraq.

HELSINKI (AP) — Swedish media reports say Iraq’s defense minister, who holds dual Iraqi-Swedish citizenship, is suspected of illegally receiving benefits in Sweden.

The Intercept and the New York Times on Monday published a lengthy examination of leaked Iranian intelligence cables that shed new light on how thoroughly Iran dominates the politics of Iraq, with much of the dirtiest work done by the commander of Iran’s notorious Quds Force, Gen. Qassem Soleimani. 

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) unveiled his foreign policy vision Tuesday that would “keep Americans safe and prosperous,” while ending America’s decades-long wars in the Middle East.

Iraqi protesters burned down the home of Zainab Khazraji, a member of the Iraqi parliament, on Tuesday night. Local media reports said there was no apparent reason for targeting Khazraji and no political message was sent along with the vandalism.

Iraqi intelligence officials told the National on Wednesday that slain Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi used his brother Juma to carry messages into Turkey on several occasions, concluding with a visit to Istanbul in April.

The president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Nechirvan Barzani, told an audience Tuesday that the Marxist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was responsible for Turkish violence against Kurds in Syria, encouraging Kurds to “criticize ourselves” as much as outsiders.

ZURICH (AP) — FIFA says Iraq is not safe enough to host World Cup qualifying games against Iran and Bahrain.

Kurdish outlets and Turkish state media confirmed a Turkish airstrike on Yazidi territory in northern Iraq Monday, reportedly targeting a Yazidi militia formed in the aftermath of the Islamic State’s genocide against their people.

The Iranian consulate in Karbala, Iraq, was stormed by dozens of protesters on Sunday, who threw Molotov cocktails, climbed over the walls, took down the Iranian flag, and replaced it with the Iraqi flag.

During an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Monday, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden said that the 2011 withdrawal of troops from Iraq was a “mistake in the sense that” a residual force could not stay

BAGHDAD — Dozens of Iraqi protesters attacked the Iranian consulate in the Shiite holy city of Karbala on Sunday, scaling the concrete barriers ringing the building, bringing down an Iranian flag and replacing it with the Iraqi flag, eyewitnesses said.

Senior Iraqi officials revealed on Wednesday that Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, head of the Iranian “Quds Force” unit that masterminds terrorism and repression beyond Iran’s borders, was sent to Baghdad in the early hours of the current protest movement to strategize with Iranian security personnel. In fact, Soleimani appears to have taken over the Iraqi government’s deadly response to the protests. 

Pope Francis reached out to the people of Iraq Wednesday, sending his condolences for deaths and injuries suffered by protesters and promising his prayers.

Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria is a threat to the sensitive Christian communities rebuilding in a country that lost the vast majority of its Christian population, Aid to the Church in Need Director of Outreach Edward Clancy told Breitbart News.

At least 18 protesters were killed in the Iraqi city of Karbala on Tuesday morning when a unit of masked Iraqi security forces opened fire on them with live ammunition. Over 800 others were reportedly wounded in the attack.

The Pentagon confirmed Monday that the Islamic State terror chief’s remains were disposed of “appropriately” after his suicide to prevent capture this weekend.

Iraq’s Yazidis expressed relief this weekend at the news of Islamic State “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s death.

The Islamic State press agency Amaq claimed in August that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had appointed Abdullah “The Professor” Qardash, a veteran of the Iraqi military under Saddam Hussein, as his heir apparent — a report developing major significance following al-Baghdadi’s demise on Sunday.

The death toll from renewed anti-government protests in Iraq reached 75 over the weekend, doubling the number killed before the demonstrations slowed down due to a major Shiite Muslim religious holiday.

The parents of murdered American humanitarian worker Kayla Mueller gave media interviews on Sunday and Monday in which they thanked President Donald Trump and the U.S. military for tracking down and killing Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – the man who enslaved, raped, and killed their daughter.

Iraqi police fired tear gas and stun grenades on Friday as protests resumed in Baghdad after three weeks of relative calm. There were also reports of live rounds being fired. The Iraqi Human Rights Commission reported 21 killed and 1779 injured in disturbances around the country.

A wounded Iraq war veteran and his wife were welcomed into their nearly-finished smart home on Wednesday in Colorado.

Christian persecution in Iraq and Syria has decreased dramatically in the aftermath of the fall of the Islamic State, a report published Wednesday revealed, in large part because the affected areas have been almost completely stripped of their Christian populations.