With the number of forces in the Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias possibly being twice that of Iraq’s army, the U.S. government faces the challenge that it may win the war against the Islamic State militants but still lose Iraq to Iran. The militias may also be destroying any hope of future Iraq unity.

Iraqi military forces abandoned the town of al-Baghdadi, which is near the air base where about 300 U.S. Marines are stationed. Also, a high profile Sunni leader was assassinated. At least 136 people were killed and 20 were wounded.

In the early morning hours of February 12, leaders of Russia, France, Germany and the Ukrainian junta emerged bleary-eyed from the presidential palace in Minsk to announce a deal that would halt the fighting in eastern Ukraine. At first glance, the 13-point memorandum...

Talking to reporters Monday, President Obama asked rhetorically, “[D]oes Iran have the political will and desire to get a deal done?”  Iran “should be able to get to yes,” Obama said. “But we don’t know if that is going to happen. They have their...

There’s not much to write about Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton that he hasn’t already said himself. His over-the-top war rhetoric is quickly earning him a reputation as chief warmonger on the planet. He became an online sensation when, in 2006, a letter written by him to...

Back in 1987, according to a tightly-held report produced for the Pentagon, (PDF) the Israelis were "developing the kind of codes which will enable them to make hydrogen bombs. That is, codes which detail fission and fusion processes on a microscopic and...

At least 179 Iraqis were killed and five more were wounded. More information on the attack on al-Baghdadi on Thursday was released. Eighteen Iraqi personnel were killed in the battle there or near the Ain al-Asad base, where U.S. Marines are training Iraqis. At least eight militants were killed. Airstrikes that followed the attack probably killed more militants. There are conflicting reports on who currently controls al-Baghdadi.

At long last, the Obama administration has submitted a draft resolution to Congress that would authorize the ongoing U.S.-led military intervention against the Islamic State, or ISIS. The effort comes more than six months after the U.S. began bombing targets in Iraq...

The president's request for the authorization to use military force against the Islamic State has landed in a Congress as divided as the country. That division was mirrored in the disparate receptions Obama's resolution received from The Wall Street Journal and The...

Like everything this administration does, President Obama's proposed draft for the authorization of military force (AUMF) is a purely political document, starting with its conception. After all, US forces are already in Iraq – 3,000 of them – "advising"...