Iraqi Prime Minister’s ‘Potemkin’ Visit to Washington

Via Nicole Robinson:

dailysignal.com/2024/04/15/ira…

Great CNN interview with محمد شياع السوداني and Christiane Amanpour, especially on the kidnapped Princeton student Elizabeth Tsurkov, which underlined the way Iraq claims to be self-sufficient in security but cannot recover a kidnapped woman from its own security forces
cnn.com/videos/tv/2024…

Prime Minister Mohammed S. Al-Sudani Meets U.S. Secretary of State in Washington D.C.

The meeting, held at Prime Minister Al-Sudani's residence in Washington, D.C., focused on establishing long-term joint relations, activating the Strategic Framework Agreement, and the Joint…

Seven things #Europe can do on #Israel - #Iran escalation. 🇪🇺🇮🇱🇮🇷
Josep Borrell Fontelles Ursula von der Leyen Stefano Sannino

A THREAD 🧵

In rural northwest Iraq🇮🇶, employment opportunities outside of farming are rare.

Without enough water to maintain livelihoods, ISIS offered an economic escape, writes Sinéad Barry
📰adelph.it/ISISWater📰

Full research to be published in a Special Edition of The Defence Horizon Journal

Just in — Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’a Al-Sudani will meet with Biden at the White House on April 15.

Turkish President Erdoğan plans to launch a mass military operation in Iraq and Syria against PKK and YPG after local elections. Erdoğan is also expected to make his first visit to Baghdad and Erbil as president, according to the online news outlet T24.
duvarenglish.com/turkish-presid…

JUST IN; Iraq’s Sudani faces US pressure to fix problems with Kurds ahead of Washington visit But how far is Washington willing to push?- Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East w/ ⁦Ramzy Mardini⁩ ⁦Bilal Wahab, PhD⁩ al-monitor.com/originals/2024…

Iraqi Oil Minister: Iraq does not pay amounts associated with gas imports from Iran due to sanctions, and the amount received as a result of these imports has reached ten billion euros.

🌟 Curious about the intricate dynamics of Iraq's Islamic Resistance and how it relates to the #PMF 's strategy of state institutionalisation?

Join me in this🧵as we unravel the unique factors shaping the landscape of Islamic resistance in Iraq. #Iraq #Resistance #hashd

See our new Washington Institute #MilitiaSpotlight profile today on Kataib Al-Imam Ali, which has always been intriguing and hard to characterize neatly. Lots more to add but this is a good digestible starting point
washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysi…

NEW: #Iraq ’s Federal Supreme Court ignites debate with fresh rulings on public sector salaries and elections in the #Kurdistan region.

Critics say the rulings undermine Kurdish autonomy and suggest the court may be exceeding its authority.

amwaj.media/media-monitor/… Amwaj.media

“Two decades after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the unipolar moment has faded, along with dreams of a better Middle East. What remains is the puzzle of how such an epically self-destructive fiasco could have happened in the first place.”
trib.al/q9Xx32K

The legacy of conflict-pollution still impacts farmers in Salahadin in #Iraq , where crude oil spills after heavy rains are contaminating agricultural areas. The oil comes from the damaged Ajeel oil fields, that were blown-up by ISIS in their retreat.
alsumaria.tv/news/localnews…

US patience with #Iraqi militias is running out after some 180 attacks. The de-escalation has ended, but where would it take US-Iraq relations? In this Washington Institute piece, I lay out two scenarios: one is bad, one is worse and ugly.

Today marks the first step in the establishment of the Higher Military Commission. The HMC will work to set the conditions to transition the mission in Iraq. CJTF-OIR reaffirms its commitment to advise, assist and enable the ISF throughout this dialogue process.

First round of HMC meeting chaired by Iraq Prime Minister محمد شياع السوداني in Baghdad started between #Iraq and the United States of America to end the mission of the International Coalition in Iraq.

U.S. Forces Strike Kataib Hezbollah Capabilities in Iraq
In response to attacks by the Iranian-backed militia group Kataib Hezbollah (KH), including the attack on al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq on Jan. 20, on Jan. 24 at 12:15 a.m. (Iraq time), U.S. CENTCOM forces conducted…

Conflict is spreading to the wider Middle East in the form of scattered incidents— all different expression of the latent #Israel - #Iran shadow war.