Epstein Secrets

turmoil has wracked much of the rest of the country. Yet for many Kurds, the Iraqi region of Kurdistan could never be complete without Kirkuk. Under Saddam Hussein's brutal Arabization campaigns, many Kurds were forced to leave. The ethnically mixed area has been the flash point of a bitter territorial dispute.

tan could never be complete without Kirkuk. Under Saddam Hussein's brutal Arabization campaigns, many Kur

ld never be complete without Kirkuk. Under Saddam Hussein's brutal Arabization campaigns, many Kurds were

ty. Washington has urged the country's factions to work together toward forging a new government that would see the country's Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki step aside. "A united Iraq is a stronger Iraq," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters last week. But Iraq's parliament failed to re

ngs on whom America depended to help protect its interests. They were constant, if not always agreeable, companions. Egypt's Mubarak, Jordan's King Hussein, Tunisia's Ben Ali, Yemen's Ali Saleh, Morocco's King Hassan II, Saudi Arabia's kings Fand and Abdullah. The PLO's Yasir Arafat rounded out the gr

ghts abuses, authoritarian behavior, and faux reforms. Then there were the adversarial authoritarians. Here, a smaller group photo featured Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Syria's Assads (father and son), and Libya's Muammar al-Qaddafi. America sought to check and constrain their power, even removing one through inva

nstrain their power, even removing one through invasion. But at times, the United States found common ground with them too. (See: cooperation with Saddam against the Iranian mullahs, and dancing with Assad on the peace process.) As pure and unadulterated dictators, however, they were incorrigible, be

ruption and their own dwindling perks. Only in Iraq, untouched by the Arab Spring, does the strongman of yesteryear in the person of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki seem to live on, though in a much more constrained form. So what are the consequences of an Arab world bereft of powerful authoritarians? Four sta

We do know, with absolute certainty, that [Saddam Hussein] is using his procurement system to acquire the

ld," said President Bush. So much for accountability. Then, of course, there was Vice President Cheney: "We do know, with absolute certainty, that [Saddam Hussein] is using his procurement system to acquire the equipment he needs in order to enrich uranium to build a nuclear weapon." Or this one, from 2005 --

that it would take more forces to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq than it would take to conduct the war itself and to secure the surrender of Saddam's security forces and his army. Hard to imagine. Actually, not so hard, given that Shinseki had just imagined it. And that's one of the most madden

irmation votes. And what of Iraq today? As it turns out, it's one of the closest allies of Iran. Just last week, it was reported that Iraqi Premier Nouri al-Maliki has turned down the U.S. demand for sanctions against Iran Page 14 of S EFTA00615166 for its nuclear program. Iraq also just approved the buildin

of the last U.S. troops from Iraq, we're finally going to get the answer to the core question about that country: Was Iraq the way Iraq was because Saddam was the way Saddam was, or was Saddam the way Saddam was because Iraq is the way Iraq is — a collection of sects and tribes unable to live togethe

s been a mounting campaign by the prime minister, a Shiite with close ties to Iran, against perceived Sunni enemies. Hundreds of former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party have been arrested in recent weeks. EFTA_R1_01992712 EFTA02681497 14 Security forces controlled by Mr. Maliki have surrounded the c

ternal iron fist that held Iraq together (Saddam Hussein) and the external iron fist (the U.S. armed force

e Washington Post In Iraq, a return to old enmities Editorial December 21 -- PRESIDENT OBAMA struck a "mission accomplished" tone when he greeted Nouri al-Maliki at the White House last week, heaping praise on the Iraqi prime minister and declaring that he "leads Iraq's most inclusive government yet." It di

500,000 US troops to the kingdom to expel Saddam Hussein's forces from neighboring Kuwait. In the eyes of

-up to his 2010 reelection bid, Maliki's Electoral Commission disqualified more than 500, mostly Sunni, candidates on charges that they had ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. For the Obama administration, however, tangling with Maliki meant investing time and energy in Iraq, a country it desperately wanted t

Magazine that appears under the eye-catching headline, "The Man Who Broke the Middle East." The man in question is not Sykes or Picot or Nasser or Saddam or Khomeini or George W. Bush or Noun al-Maliki, but Barack Obama. I often agree with Elliott, but I could not let this one go by without a respons

er or later, honest liberals will have to admit that Obama's Iraq policy has been a disaster. Since the president took office, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has grown ever more tyrannical and ever more sectarian, driving his country's Sunnis toward revolt. Since Obama took office, Iraq watchers—includin

ions of = military strike are not widely discussed. This ominously echoes the run up to the war in Iraq.ap> When Washington was preparing t= invade Saddam Hussein's Iraq, little consideration was given to what ca=e next. Ten years later, the mistakes are evident. Iraq did not pose the immediate security threat t

Iraq.ap> When Washington was preparing t= invade Saddam Hussein's Iraq, little consideration was given to

> When Washington was preparing t= invade Saddam Hussein's Iraq, little consideration was given to what ca

l against an Alawite minority, has been a boon t= the Sunnis of Iraq. The Sunnis have bottomless grievances against the gov=rnment of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. To them, Maliki, who spent a qua=ter-century exiled in Syria and Iran, is an agent of the Iranian theocracy. So even though the regime in S=ria di

ess" and musing aloud: "You could even go back ten years and say, you know what, it might have been a =ittle more stable when we had that awful guy [Saddam) Hussein, who hated t=e Iranians." Democrats, such as =enator Dianne Feinstein of California, content themselves with denouncing =epublicans for fa

musing aloud: "You could even go back ten years and say, you know what, it might have been a =ittle more stable when we had that awful guy [Saddam) Hussein, who hated t=e Iranians." Democrats, such as =enator Dianne Feinstein of California, content themselves with denouncing =epublicans for failing to

st the Shiite government in Iran. From the beginning,=this has been the irreparable flaw in the American strategy to topple the =raqi government of Saddam Hussein. Saddam was a brutal and murderous dicta=or, but as a secular Sunni who ruled with an iron, bloody fist, he was able to crush the fundamentalist thr

http://topics.wsj.com/person/O/Obama/4328> administration. The U.S. is weighing more direct military assis=ance to the government of Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki, the White House said Thursday, and officials hinted that =id might include airstrikes on militants who have edged to within a half-h=ur's drive of

candidate focusing on Iranian policy toward post-Saddam Iraq at the University of London's School of Orie

ir less experienced allies, who are now decamping for home. Since late December, Shia militiamen have returned to Iraq to defend the government of Nouri al-Maliki against the ISIS-led insurgency in the country's west. Given the lightening-speed advance of ISIS this month, threats to destroy Shia holy sites, a