Iraq::Articles

Thomas Powers
New York Review of Books - May, 2008
In Iraq and Afghanistan alike the Americans have been trying to establish a government of convenience--friendly to the West, moderate in politics, predictable in business, open to peace with Israel, hostile to Islamic fundamentalists. The United States has been trying to establish such governments in the Middle East for sixty years.
International Crisis Group - April, 2008
In the U.S., much of the debate has focused on whether to maintain or withdraw troops. But this puts the question the wrong way, and spawns misguided answers. The issue, rather, should be whether the U.S. is pursuing a policy that, by laying the foundations of legitimate, functional institutions and rules of the game, will minimize the costs to itself, the Iraqi people and regional stability of a withdrawal that sooner or later must occur - or whether it is simply postponing a scenario of Iraq's collapse into a failed and fragmented state, protracted and multilayered violence, as well as increased foreign meddling.
International Crisis Group - April, 2008
But on their own, without an overarching strategy for Iraq and the region, these tactical victories cannot turn into lasting success. The mood among Sunnis could alter. The turn against al-Qaeda in Iraq is not necessarily the end of the story. While some tribal chiefs, left in the cold after Saddam's fall, found in the U.S. a new patron ready and able to provide resources, this hardly equates with a genuine, durable trend toward Sunni Arab acceptance of the political process. For these chiefs, as for the former insurgents, it mainly is a tactical alliance, forged to confront an immediate enemy (al-Qaeda in Iraq) or the central one (Iran).
Steve Niva
Foreign Policy in Focus - April, 2008
The new "surge" strategy in Iraq, led by General David Petreaus, has been heavily marketed as an example of the U.S. military's application of the "lessons of history" from previous counterinsurgencies to Iraq, foremost among them the need to win the population over from insurgents through cultivating human relationships, addressing popular grievances and providing security
Refugees International
- April, 2008
Uprooted and Unstable: Meeting Urgent Humanitarian Needs in Iraq describes a vacuum of humanitarian assistance created by the failure of the Iraqi government and the international community to administer aid to civilians. During a mission inside Iraq, researchers for Refugees International found that Iraqi militias are creating a Hezbollah-like dynamic by becoming major humanitarian providers of food, clothing, oil and other basic resources.
Joseph J. Collins
National Defense University - April, 2008
As this case study is being written, despite impressive progress in security during the surge, the outcome of the war is in doubt. Strong majorities of both Iraqis and Americans favor some sort of U.S. withdrawal. Intelligence analysts, however, remind us that the only thing worse than an Iraq with an American army may be an Iraq after the rapid withdrawal of that army.
Steve Simon
Foreign Affairs - April, 2008
The continued nurturing of tribalism in Iraq, in a way that sustains tribes in opposition to the central government rather than folding them into it, will bring about an Iraqi state that suffers from the same instability and violence as Yemen and Pakistan. U.S. officials in Iraq have taken note of how the current U.S. approach has exacerbated the dangers of tribalism. Last month, a senior U.S. military adviser conceded, "We're not thinking through the impact of abetting further corruption and perpetuating tribal power."
Phyllis Bennis
Foreign Policy in Focus - April, 2008
Colin H. Kahl, Brian Katulus, & Marc Lynch
MIddle East Policy - April, 2008
Daniel Serwer and Sam Parker
US Institute of Peace - April, 2008
Wayne White
Middle East Institute - April, 2008
Juan Cole
Salon - April, 2008
Ned Parker
Los Angeles Times - March, 2008
Reidar Visser
- March, 2008
Colin Kahl and Shawn Brimley
Center for a New American Security - March, 2008
Barack Obama
- March, 2008
Raed Jarrar
Foreign Policy in Focus - March, 2008
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - March, 2008
Dahr Jamail
Foreign Policy in Focus - March, 2008
Reidar Visser
MERIP - Middle East Research and Information Project - March, 2008
Nir Rosen
Rolling Stone - February, 2008
Adil Shamoo
Foreign Policy in Focus - February, 2008
John Tirman
Editor and Publisher - February, 2008
International Crisis Group - February, 2008
Daniel Serwer and Rend al-Rahim
US Institute for Peace - January, 2008
Paul Rogers
Open Democracy - January, 2008
International Center for Transitional Justice - January, 2008
Mark Perry
Asia Times - January, 2008
Wayne Hunt
Arab Media and Society - January, 2008
World Health Organization - January, 2008
Michael Massing
New York Review of Books - January, 2008
Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post - December, 2007
Mohamad Bazzi
The Nation - December, 2007
US Dept of Defense - December, 2007
Rend Al-Rahim Francke
US Institute of Peace - December, 2007
Paul Rogers
Open Democracy - December, 2007
Douglas Macgregor
Mother Jones - December, 2007
Ned Parker
Los Angeles Times - December, 2007
Juan Cole
Salon - December, 2007
Jon Lee Anderson
The New Yorker - November, 2007
International Crisis Group - November, 2007
Marc Lynch
Abu Aardvark Blog - November, 2007
John Podesta, Lawrence J. Korb, Brian Katulis
Center for American Progress - October, 2007
Stuart B. Bowen
Council on Foreign Relations - October, 2007
Lawrence Wright
New Yorker - October, 2007
Institute for War and Peace Reporting - October, 2007
Roger Owen
Boston Globe - September, 2007
Stephen Biddle and Jeffrey Friedman
Council on Foreign Relations - September, 2007
Reidar Visser
- September, 2007
Francis Fukuyama
Political Concepts - September, 2007
Nir Rosen
Boston Review - September, 2007
P. W. Singer
Brookings Institute - September, 2007
Report to Congress
Department of Defense - September, 2007
Foreign Policy Magazine - September, 2007
Jon Alterman
CSIS - September, 2007
Marc Lynch
The American Prospect - September, 2007
Volker Perthes
Open Democracy - September, 2007
BBC, ABC News and NHK - September, 2007
Daniel Serwer
US Institute of Peace - September, 2007
George Packer
New Yorker - September, 2007
Joshua Holland and Raed Jarrar
Alternet - September, 2007
Jessica Matthews
Carnegie Endowment - September, 2007
Rend al-Rahim Francke
US Institute of Peace - September, 2007
Madona Mokbel
MERIP Middle East Report - September, 2007
General James Jones
Center for Strategic and International Studies - September, 2007
David Walker, Comptroller General
US General Accounting Office (GAO) - September, 2007
Andrew Tilghman
The Washington Monthly - September, 2007
Matthew Duss
Foreign Policy in Focus - July, 2007
Anthony Cordesman
Center for Strategic and International Studies - July, 2007
Carlos Pascual and Larry Diamond
Brookings Policy Brief - June, 2007
International Crisis Group - June, 2007
Frances S. Hasso
MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies - May, 2007