The headlines from Iraq are once again of political acrimony and sectarian violence. The cause is the weak surface tension that binds together a notional Iraq nation, where sectarian loyalties and personal interest are more powerful motivators than nationality. The latest round of violence is d
The US justified the invasion of Iraq, after the highly embarrassing absence of weapons of mass destruction came to light, by claiming that it bettered the lot of the Iraqi people. While the objective may have been admirable, the way it was approached, and the absence of a post-conflict strategy
The recent decision by a US judge to kick out charges against Blackwater contractors didn’t sit well with Baghdad. While there is little directly they can do, the nascent Iraqi democracy knows well how payback works. Baghdad immediately begun a crackdown of its own raiding contractors there
If I said Emma Sky and you didn’t have the wonders of Google at your fingertips would you know who she is? Ii is a good trivia question for the Thanksgiving period. Certainly she is less well-known is Gen. Ray Odierno, the US Commander in Iraq, but as far as the future strategies of the West there
In a move that has surprised some, the Iraqi Vice President, Tariq al-Hashemi, has used his veto to kill new election laws putting the planned January elections at risk. The concern is that the new law would limit the opportunity for many Iraqis who fled the country during the troubles to lodge
Press freedom should not be bought at all, and never cheaply. Freedom has been fought for in blood, sear, tears and sacrifice. The US bought democracy for Iraq expensively. It lost treasure, it lost moral authority, it paid a dearer price than perhaps was warranted. However, that hard fought win i
It is hard to imagine 19 MIG jet fighters turning up in the lost and found, but Iraq's missing air force turned up recently in Serbia. Saddam Hussein had outsourced the maintenance of some of his air force to Serbia. He had sent the planes for maintenance, and they got trapped there when the sanct
The headlines from Iraq are once again all about bombs and sectarian violence. In disturbing the surface tension that held together a notional Iraq nationalism, it could well be that the US cast a die it will regret. The violence today has many causes - settling old debts, ancient tribal spats,
08.13.2009 | Editorials, Iran, Iraq, Middle East | Stuart Ford
If you don't know who Michael Ware is, then you probably haven't followed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan closely. Michael (Mick) Ware is the distinctive CNN correspondent from Baghdad, with a broad Australian accent, and a nose so broken a team of engineers couldn't straighten it (his own words).
08.11.2009 | Americas, Editorials, Iraq, Middle East | Stuart Ford
June 30, is fast approaching. This is an important date as it marks the deadline for US troops to withdraw from Iraqi cities under the terms of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), as agreed and executed by the new sovereign Iraqi government and the US. However, as much as the deadline is
Ahead of the political rough and tumble of the Obama-Netanyahu meeting and the upcoming Iranian elections, there is an open war being fought in the media between Israel and Iran if you look for it. Israel is acting bellicose and aggressive, calling for immediate action on what they term, rather dram
05.18.2009 | Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Middle East, Pakistan | Clarity Correspondent
In a story that didn't get a lot of column inches in the Western press, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's party wants to introduce legislation to ban Israeli Arabs from marking the anniversary of what they term "the Catastrophe" in 1948, which of course near enough corresponds with Isra
05.17.2009 | Iraq, Israel, Middle East, Pakistan | Clarity Correspondent
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