Iraq

“Lindsey Graham would like to stay in the Middle East for the next thousand years,” Trump said.

Joe Biden claimed Wednesday night during the fourth Democrat debate that U.S. troops in “Iraq” are “being fired on” by Syrian regime forces.

Ironically, when a diplomatic and political solution to the Kurds’ dilemma presented itself, few bothered to support it. Now that Turkey has crossed the border, many are reacting solely out of political concerns.

Turkey is a legitimate nation-state with long-standing memberships in major international organizations like the U.N. and NATO. The Kurds are stateless actors, a large ethnic group broken into many factions and spread across several different countries. This is a very important factor in the conflict between Turkey and the Kurds. The world should address it by doing something that should have been done long ago: give the Kurds a state of their own.

Esper said the administration pulled back troops from northern Syria to make sure they were not in a fight between Turkey and Kurdish forces.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the semi-autonomous Kurdish provincial leadership in Iraq, expressed solidarity with the Syrian Kurds on Thursday, denounced Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria, and criticized the United States for failing to prevent the Turkish operation.

Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria to drive the Kurds away from the Turkish border is bringing more Western attention to the Kurds than they received during the long and bloody Syrian civil war, where they played a key role in defeating the Islamic State. Here are some important things to know about the Kurds.

In an interview with Breitbart News on Wednesday, Dr. Ali Akram Albayati of the Iraqi High Commission on Human Rights discussed the origins of the protests in Iraq, endorsed the right of the people to be heard, and mourned the loss of life during clashes between protesters and security forces.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Tuesday applauded President Trump’s decision to move about 50 American soldiers in northern Syria away from a frontline in a pending war between Turkey and Syrian Kurdish forces.

President Donald Trump defended his desire to end U.S. military engagement in the Middle East on Wednesday.

Iraqi President Barham Salih on Monday condemned violence against protesters and journalists during demonstrations across the country and called on the Iraqi military to protect them.

Protests against government corruption in Iraq have resulted in over 100 deaths and 6,000 injuries as of Monday, local media has reported.

“I hate it,” Trump said. “I hate it.”

The death toll from four days of widespread protests in Iraq climbed to 60 as of Friday afternoon, with a growing number of allegations that security forces are unnecessarily targeting demonstrators with lethal ammunition.

Massive demonstrations were held in Baghdad on Wednesday against corruption, government inefficiency, and high unemployment.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused French President Emmanuel Macron of “defaming Turkey” in a speech this week in which he reportedly defended a free media in Turkey and urged Ankara to take in more migrants.

A border crossing on a vital highway linking the capitals of Iraq and Syria, seized by Islamic State group jihadists in 2014, re-opened on Monday.

Iraqi President Barham Salih insisted his country would not serve as a venue for a regional fight while speaking at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Wednesday, presumably addressing regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Iran might see an opportunity in the political chaos engulfing Israel following the latest election there to attempt to further destabilize the Middle East, warned Aaron Klein, Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter.

Islamist Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to either impose global nuclear disarmament or establish laws that allow any nation to develop nuclear weapons, as the status quo breeds “inequality.”

BAGHDAD — Two rockets landed near the US embassy in Baghdad overnight, security sources told AFP early Tuesday, with foreign diplomats there reporting emergency sirens repeatedly going off.

An American Airlines mechanic who arrived in the United States from Iraq was denied bail this week after allegedly sabotaging a July flight due to his potential ties to the Islamic State (ISIS).

Islamic State media on Monday released an audio clip purportedly containing a new message from fugitive “caliph” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

A 28-year-old Yazidi former sex slave named Shatha Salim Bashar is scheduled to testify in German court next month against one of the fourteen Islamic State jihadis who allegedly enslaved and raped her, used her as a human shield, and forced her to watch her best friend die.

A stampede during commemorations for the Shiite holy day of Ashoura in the Iraqi city of Karbala killed at least 31 people and wounded 100 others, officials said.

Retired Army Col. Doug Macgregor told Tucker Carlson on Tuesday that there should be an end to global police missions.

An island in Iraq home to Islamic State terrorists was annihilated on Tuesday night by almost 80,000 pounds of bombs dropped from U.S. and allied warplanes.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday he was not surprised by the news that President Donald Trump fired National Security Advisor John Bolton.

A human stampede of Shiite Muslim pilgrims at a major shrine in the Iraqi city of Karbala claimed 16 lives on Tuesday and left dozens more injured, the health ministry said.

Unknown warplanes targeted an arms depot and posts of Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria, near the Iraqi border, killing at least 18 fighters in a nighttime attack, Syrian opposition activists said Monday. A Syrian security official said Israeli jets staged the airstrikes, but denied there were any casualties.