The January casualty figures in the Iraqi conflict are 4,176 dead and 1,433 injured. The number of fatalities is higher than the December figure with was 3,174 killed. Another 1,939 were wounded last month. Most of the fighting this month took place in Mosul, but reports from there are unreliable. According to figures compiled by …
Continue reading “4,176 Killed in Iraq in January”
In his Jan. 13 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson made an extraordinary comment concerning China’s activities in the hotly disputed South China Sea. The United States, he said, must “send a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops,” adding that Beijing’s “access to the those islands is …
Continue reading “How Trump Could Blunder Into War With China”
The ridiculous truth is that the imposition of a travel ban on Yemen – in addition to six other countries – has evoked more anguish than America’s major role in making that country unlivable. Here’s a very sad story about the plight of a young Yemeni girl who is being blocked from entering the US …
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Iraq’s parliament formally called on the federal government to respond to a controversial visa ban — that prevents Iraqis from entering the United States — by likewise barring Americans from traveling to Iraq. Two new ministers were sworn in on Monday. Qassem al-Aaraji is the new interior minister, and Erfan al-Hayyali is the new minister …
Continue reading “New Iraqi Defense, Interior Ministers Sworn in; 82 Killed in Iraq”
The Trump administration has the media and its political opponents (or do I repeat myself?) in a lather as the White House continues to fire executive orders in quick succession, demolishing the old order and enraging both liberals and their newfound neoconservative allies. Amid all the virtue-signaling hysterics, the most significant aspects of what is …
Continue reading “Spare Us the Theatrics”
A mass grave containing the bodies of over two dozen Turkmen, including children, was discovered in a recently liberated neighborhood in east Mosul.
Security forces discovered a chemical weapons lab in Mosul.
President Donald Trump has been busy during his first week. The speed of his executive orders, and the confidence with which he has signed plans to build a wall, and to replace ObamaCare with… something else has been shocking, considering how shellshocked he looked when he actually won. Trump also followed through on his campaign …
Continue reading “Banning Refugees From Countries America Destroyed Is Wrong”
Shi’ite militiamen are accused of kidnapping a female activist in Baghdad.
The text of a draft executive order on “Protecting the Nation From Terrorist Attacks From Foreign Nationals,” expected to be signed by President Trump, which deals primarily with excluding citizens of selected countries from entering the United States, includes what may be the biggest mistake the newly elected President will ever make: “Sec. 6. Establishment …
Continue reading “Trump’s First Big Mistake” 
