Michael Patrick Brill

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 its war against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saddam contended the CIA … Continue reading “Locking Away Iraqi History”

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 recent history. Without a doubt, the current state of the conflict is directly … Continue reading “Gulf War Without End: Iraq’s Forty Years of Conflict”

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, a force perceived by many analysts as being a largely "checkpoint army" that also … Continue reading “Iraq: Maliki’s Assad Moment”