In March 1979, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein told his inner circle that leading the Arab countries to a final victory against Israel would first entail a showdown with the United States. Throughout the 1980s, even while the United States officially supported Iraq in...

The article originally appeared at Muftah.org and is reprinted with permission.The recent offensive by forces of the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), along with their allies, opens a new chapter in the conundrum of violence that has devastated Iraq throughout...

The recently announced sale of fighter-bombers to Iraq by Russia and Belarus marks a turning point in the country’s escalating conflict. On a structural level, the purchase by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s regime reveals the desperation of the Iraqi military,...