Iraq::Articles

Lessons We Should Have Learned from the Iraq Sanctions
Joy Gordon
The Middle East Channel - July, 2010
Coming on the heels of the massive bombing strikes of the 1991 Gulf War, the sanctions had a catastrophic humanitarian impact, preventing Iraq from rebuilding or even maintaining its infrastructure. Electricity production, agriculture, water treatment, telecommunications, transportation, health care, and education were all crippled. A UN envoy described the situation in 1991 as "near apocalyptic."
Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq 2005-2009
Chris Busby, Malak Hamdan and Entesar Ariabi
Intl Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - July, 2010
The results for cancer show some alarming rates in the 5-year period. Relative Risk based on the Egypt and Jordan cancer rates are significantly higher for all malignancy, leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors and female breast cancer.
Iraq's Uncertain Future: Elections and Beyond
International Crisis Group - February, 2010
As a rule, Iraq's post-Saddam elections have tended to magnify pre-existing negative trends. The parliamentary polls to be held on 7 March are no exception. The focus on electoral politics is good, no doubt, but the run-up has highlighted deep-seated problems that threaten the fragile recovery: recurring election-related violence; ethnic tensions over Kirkuk; the re-emergence of sectarianism; and blatant political manipulation of state institutions.
Shi'i Politics: Preparing for Victory and for the Next Battle
Marina Ottaway & Danial Kaysi
Carnegie Endowment - February, 2010
Because of the deep divisions among the likely winners in the elections, the Shi'i parties, the March 7 elections will just be the first step in determining the distribution of power in the Iraqi political system in the next phase. The post-election period, in which alliances and parties within them will have to reconsider their options and regroup in view of voting results that will not be decisive, is likely to become as important as the elections themselves for the future of Iraq.
Blacklisted in Baghdad
Reidar Visser
Foreign Affairs - February, 2010
What the United States must provide, then, is not an overhaul of Iraq's political system but a sign of hope and attention for all those who have been intimidated by Lami and his commission. But this message must not reproduce the kind of divisive logic favored by Iran but transcend it -- in other words, the Obama administration must create a break from Iraq's post-2003 system of government.
De-Baathification As A Political Tool: Commission Ruling Bans Political Parties and Leaders
Marina Ottaway, Danial Kaysi
Carnegie Endowment - January, 2010
Details remain murky, but the decision by the Shia-controlled JAC, the successor to the de-Baathification Commission, affects several of Iraq's top Sunni figures and parties, sealing the increasingly sectarian character of the elections. It also makes it more likely that Sunni parties and candidates, who are already highly divided, will fare poorly in the elections, further complicating the already difficult process of reconciliation.
Sunna in Iraq, 6 Years after Saddam
Marina Ottaway, Danial Kaysi
Carnegie Endowment - December, 2009
As the second election for the Council of Representatives approaches, Sunna appear as uncertain about what strategy to pursue and as divided among themselves as they were in 2004 and 2005.
Iraq on the Edge
Joost Hilterman
New York Review of Books - October, 2009
Inside the 2010 Iraqi Elections
Carnegie Endowment - October, 2009
A Precarious Peace in Northern Iraq
Quil Lawrence
MERIP Middle East Report - October, 2009
Iraq's New Battlefront: The Struggle over Ninewa
International Crisis Group - September, 2009
Making Big Money on Iraq
Pete W. Moore
MERIP Middle East Report - September, 2009
After Sadr-Badr Compromise in Tehran, the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) Is Declared
Reidar Visser
historiae.org - August, 2009
Withdrawing from Iraq: Alternative Schedules, Associated Risks, and Mitigating Strategies
Rand Corporation - August, 2009
22 July 2009: Uneasy Anniversary for Iraq's Inter-Sectarian Opposition Front
Reidar Visser
historiae.org - July, 2009
Withdrawal from Iraq: What are the Regional Implications?
Middle East Policy Council - July, 2009
Iraq and the Kurds: Trouble Along The Trigger Line
International Crisis Group - July, 2009
Biden, US Policy in Iraq and the Concept of Muhasasa
Reidar Visser
historiae.org - July, 2009
Disputed Territories in Iraq: The Practical Argument against Self-Determination in Kirkuk
Reidar Visser
historiae.org - May, 2009
Martyrdom's Strategy: Suicide Bombers Target Obama's Withdrawal Plan
Steve Niva
Foreign Policy in Focus - May, 2009
How Soon Is Safe? Iraqi Force Development and "Conditions-Based" US Withdrawals
Anthony Cordesman and Adam Mausner
Center for Strategic and International Studies - April, 2009
The Reawakened Specter of Iraqi Civil War
Michael Wahid Hanna
MERIP Middle East Report - April, 2009
The Gathering Storm
Nir Rosen
The National - April, 2009
More than "Shiites" and "Sunnis": A Post-sectarian Strategy for Iraq
Iraqi Policy Specialists
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) - March, 2009
Iran's Role in Post-Occupation Iraq: Enemy, Good Neighbor, or Overlord?
Reidar Visser
Century Foundation - March, 2009
We're Really Leaving Iraq
Juan Cole
Salon - March, 2009
Preventing Conflict Over Kurdistan
Henri Barkey
Carnegie Endowment - February, 2009
A Litmus Test for Iraq
Reidar Visser
MERIP - Middle East Report - January, 2009
Iraq's Provincial Elections: The Stakes
International Crisis Group - January, 2009
Basra, the Failed Gulf State, Part II: Wail Abd al-Latif Concedes Defeat
Reidar Visser
historiae.org - January, 2009
Briefing Book: How to Get Out of Iraq
Marc Lynch
Foreign Policy - January, 2009
The Anbar Awakening: An Alliance of Incentives
John A. McCary
The Washington Quarterly - January, 2009
Iraq in the Obama Administration
US Institute of Peace - December, 2008
The Basra Federalism Initiative Enters Stage Two
Reidar Visser
historiae.org - December, 2008
The Quality of Justice: Failings of Iraq's Central Criminal Court
Human Rights Watch - December, 2008
America Concedes
Patrick Cockburn
London Review of Books - December, 2008
Evaluating Iraq's Provincial Reconstruction Teams While Drawdown Looms
USIP - December, 2008
Songs for the Mahdi Army
Nir Rosen
Mother Jones - December, 2008
Iraq's Displaced: Where to Turn?
Roberta Cohen
Brookings - November, 2008
The "Withdrawal Treaty" Is Passed
Reidar Visser
historiae.org - November, 2008
Imagining the Next Occupation
Jason Brownlee
MERIP - Middle East Report - November, 2008
Book Review: Iraq: Before & After, and Now
Joshua Hammer
New York Review of Books - November, 2008
Turkey and Iraqi Kurds: Conflict or Cooperation?
International Crisis Group - November, 2008
October Report to Congress on Iraq
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction
- October, 2008
Status of Forces Agreement between US and Iraq (latest)
Raed Jarrar, trans.
AFSC - October, 2008
Collateral Damage: Reporting the War in Iraq (Book Review)
Chris Toensing
The Nation - October, 2008
Security and Displacement in Iraq
Sarah Kenyon Lischer
International Security - October, 2008
How to Leave a Stable Iraq
Stephen Biddle, Michael E. O'Hanlon, and Kenneth M. Pollack
Foreign Affairs - October, 2008
The United States and Iraq: Still Getting it Wrong
Reidar Visser
Open Democracy - October, 2008
Political Situation in Iraq is 'A House of Cards'
Interview with Marc Lynch
Council on Foreign Relations - October, 2008
Is This a 'Victory'?
Peter Galbraith
New York Review of Books - October, 2008
No Friends but the Kurds? The Biden Problem in Democratic Iraq Policy
Reidar Visser
historiae.org - September, 2008
Iraq's Nouri Maliki breaking free of U.S.
Ned Parker
Los Angeles Times - September, 2008
The Future of the U.S. Military Presence in Iraq
Julie Montgomery
US Institute of Peace - September, 2008
Reconciliation Strategies in Iraq
David Steele
US Institute of Peace - September, 2008
Book Review: Outside the Green Zone, the Human Dimension
Lee Hamilton
New York Times - September, 2008
Iraq's Political Transition after the Surge
Brian Katulis, Marc Lynch, and Peter Juul
Center for American Progress - September, 2008
Iraq: What to Watch for Now
Phebe Marr
Arab Reform Bulletin, Carnegie Endowment - September, 2008
Draft US - Iraq Status of Forces Agreement
Raed Jarrar, translator
AFSC - September, 2008
How to Leave a Stable Iraq
Stephen Biddle, Michael E. O'Hanlon, and Kenneth M. Pollack
Foreign Affairs - August, 2008
Canceling Iraq's Blank Check
Colin H. Kahl, John A. Nagl, Shawn Brimley
Foreign Policy Magazine - August, 2008
The Devastation of Iraq's Past
Hugh Eakin
New York Review of Books - August, 2008
Iraq's Long-Term Impact on Jihadist Terrorism
Daniel L. Byman and Kenneth M. Pollack
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science - July, 2008
Suicide Bombers in Iraq: The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom
Mia Bloom
Political Science Quarterly - July, 2008
The Iraq War: Key Trends and Developments
Anthony Cordesman
Center for Strategic and International Studies - July, 2008
Still No Clear Path for Integrating 'Sons of Iraq' into Iraqi Government
Michael Hanna
World Politics Review - July, 2008
Embedded in Iraq
Michael Massing
New York Review of Books - July, 2008
When to Leave Iraq: Today, Tomorrow or Yesterday?
Colin H. Kahl and William E. Odom
Foreign Affairs - June, 2008
Iraq After the Surge I: The New Sunni Landscape
International Crisis Group - April, 2008
Iraq after the Surge II: The Need for a New Political Strategy
International Crisis Group - April, 2008
The New Walls of Baghdad
Steve Niva
Foreign Policy in Focus - April, 2008
Uprooted and Unstable: Meeting Urgent Humanitarian Needs in Iraq
Refugees International
- April, 2008
Choosing War: The Decision to Invade Iraq and Its Aftermath
Joseph J. Collins
National Defense University - April, 2008
The Price of the Surge: How U.S. Strategy Is Hastening Iraq's Demise
Steve Simon
Foreign Affairs - April, 2008
Petraeus-Crocker Hearing: Political Theater on Message
Phyllis Bennis
Foreign Policy in Focus - April, 2008
Thinking Strategically about Iraq: Report from a Symposium
Colin H. Kahl, Brian Katulus, & Marc Lynch
MIddle East Policy - April, 2008
Iraq After the Surge: Options and Questions
Daniel Serwer and Sam Parker
US Institute of Peace - April, 2008
Iraq: Dark Shadows of Things to Come
Wayne White
Middle East Institute - April, 2008
Why al-Maliki Attacked Basra
Juan Cole
Salon - April, 2008
In Iraq, U.S. Caught in Middle of Shiite Rivalry
Ned Parker
Los Angeles Times - March, 2008
The Enigmatic Second Battle of Basra
Reidar Visser
- March, 2008
The Case for Conditional Engagement in Iraq
Colin Kahl and Shawn Brimley
Center for a New American Security - March, 2008
The World Beyond Iraq
Barack Obama
- March, 2008
Iraq's "Hidden" Conflict
Raed Jarrar
Foreign Policy in Focus - March, 2008
Iraq: No Let-up in the Humanitarian Crisis
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - March, 2008
Rule, Not Reconciliation
Dahr Jamail
Foreign Policy in Focus - March, 2008
Debating Devolution in Iraq
Reidar Visser
MERIP - Middle East Research and Information Project - March, 2008
The Myth of the Surge
Nir Rosen
Rolling Stone - February, 2008
The Enduring Trap in Iraq
Adil Shamoo
Foreign Policy in Focus - February, 2008
Counting Iraqi Casualties -- and a Media Controversy
John Tirman
Editor and Publisher - February, 2008
Iraq's Civil War, the Sadrists and the Surge
International Crisis Group - February, 2008
Iraq: Politics Unfrozen, Direction Still Unclear
Daniel Serwer and Rend al-Rahim
US Institute for Peace - January, 2008
The Iraq Project
Paul Rogers
Open Democracy - January, 2008
Briefing Paper: Iraq's New "Accountability and Justice" Law.
International Center for Transitional Justice - January, 2008
US Military Breaks Ranks
Mark Perry
Asia Times - January, 2008
Baghdad Burning: The Blogosphere, Literature and the Art of War
Wayne Hunt
Arab Media and Society - January, 2008
New Study Estimates 151 000 Violent Iraqi Deaths Since 2003 Invasion
World Health Organization - January, 2008
As Iraqis See It
Michael Massing
New York Review of Books - January, 2008
Disaffected Iraqis Spurn Dominant Shiite Clerics
Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post - December, 2007
Muqtada al-Sadr's Power Grab
Mohamad Bazzi
The Nation - December, 2007
Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq: Report to Congress
US Dept of Defense - December, 2007
Political Progress in Iraq During the Surge
Rend Al-Rahim Francke
US Institute of Peace - December, 2007
Iraq's Danger Signals
Paul Rogers
Open Democracy - December, 2007
Will Iraq's Great Awakening Lead to a Nightmare?
Douglas Macgregor
Mother Jones - December, 2007
Iraq Calmer But More Divided
Ned Parker
Los Angeles Times - December, 2007
Why Bush's Troop Surge Won't Save Iraq
Juan Cole
Salon - December, 2007
Inside the Surge: The American Military Finds New Allies, But at What Cost?
Jon Lee Anderson
The New Yorker - November, 2007
Shiite Politics in Iraq: The Role of the Supreme Council
International Crisis Group - November, 2007
Kahl-Katulis Debate on Iraq
Marc Lynch
Abu Aardvark Blog - November, 2007
Strategic Drift in Iraq
John Podesta, Lawrence J. Korb, Brian Katulis
Center for American Progress - October, 2007
Quarterly Report to Congress, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, October 2007
Stuart B. Bowen
Council on Foreign Relations - October, 2007
Ask the Iraqis
Lawrence Wright
New Yorker - October, 2007
Climate of Fear Stymies Basra Reporters
Institute for War and Peace Reporting - October, 2007
Chaos and Unity in a Fragmented Iraq
Roger Owen
Boston Globe - September, 2007
The Iraq Data Debate: Civilian Casualties from 2006 to 2007
Stephen Biddle and Jeffrey Friedman
Council on Foreign Relations - September, 2007
The US Senate Votes to Partition Iraq. Softly
Reidar Visser
- September, 2007
After Neoconservatism
Francis Fukuyama
Political Concepts - September, 2007
No Going Back:
Little relief in sight for millions of displaced Iraqis
Nir Rosen
Boston Review - September, 2007
Can't Win With 'Em, Can't Got to War Without 'Em: Private Military Contractors and Counter Insurgency
P. W. Singer
Brookings Institute - September, 2007
Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq
Report to Congress
Department of Defense - September, 2007
The Terrorism Index
Foreign Policy Magazine - September, 2007
The Next Iraq Problem
Jon Alterman
CSIS - September, 2007
Sunni World
Marc Lynch
The American Prospect - September, 2007
Iraq in 2012: Four Scenarios
Volker Perthes
Open Democracy - September, 2007
Surge Has Failed - Iraqi Poll
BBC, ABC News and NHK - September, 2007
Iraq: Time for a Change
Daniel Serwer
US Institute of Peace - September, 2007
Planning for Defeat
George Packer
New Yorker - September, 2007
The Battle for Iraq is About Oil and Democracy, Not Religion!
Joshua Holland and Raed Jarrar
Alternet - September, 2007
The Surge in Iraq Has Failed
Jessica Matthews
Carnegie Endowment - September, 2007
Seven Months Into the Surge: What Does it Mean for Iraqis?
Rend al-Rahim Francke
US Institute of Peace - September, 2007
Refugees in Limbo: The Plight of Iraqis in Bordering States
Madona Mokbel
MERIP Middle East Report - September, 2007
Report of the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq
General James Jones
Center for Strategic and International Studies - September, 2007
Securing, Stabilizing, and Rebuilding Iraq
David Walker, Comptroller General
US General Accounting Office (GAO) - September, 2007
The Myth of AQI
Andrew Tilghman
The Washington Monthly - September, 2007
Misunderstanding Muqtada al-Sadr
Matthew Duss
Foreign Policy in Focus - July, 2007
Iraq's Sunni Insurgents: Looking Beyond Al-Qa'ida
Anthony Cordesman
Center for Strategic and International Studies - July, 2007
A Diplomatic Offensive for Iraq
Carlos Pascual and Larry Diamond
Brookings Policy Brief - June, 2007
Where Is Iraq Heading? Lessons from Basra
International Crisis Group - June, 2007
Culture Knowledge and the Violence of Imperialism: Revisiting the Arab Mind
Frances S. Hasso
MIT Electronic Journal of Middle East Studies - May, 2007
Marsh Arab Rebellion: Grievance, Mafias and Militias in Iraq
Juan Cole
Indiana University - June, 2005