AFGHAN WAR - The Bad Ending

BACKGROUND:  The War in Afghanistan was a conflict that lasted from 2001 to 2021 following the United States invasion of Afghanistan, when the United States and its allies drove the Taliban from power in order to deny al-Qaeda a safe base of operations in Afghanistan after the '9/11' Attack.  It was the longest war in United States history, surpassing the Vietnam War by roughly five months.  After the initial objectives were completed, a coalition of over 40 countries (including all NATO members) formed a security mission in the country called International Security Assistance Force (ISAF, succeeded by the Resolute Support Mission (RS) in 2014) of which certain members were involved in military combat allied with Afghanistan's government.  The war mostly consisted of Taliban insurgencies fighting against the Afghan Armed Forces and allied forces; the majority of ISAF/RS soldiers and personnel were American.

Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban, then-de facto ruling Afghanistan, hand over Osama bin Laden.

COMMENTS:  The problem with this war started in 2003 when George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, and other military officials took their eyes off the ball, Afghanistan, and focused on their paranoid obsession with Iraq and Saddam Hussein and shifted American military effort Iraq.

G.W.'s father, George H. W. Bush, conducted the Gulf War (Kuwait) against Iraq, with Arabs as part of the coalition, because he listened to the Arab nations that Saddam Hussein's war with Iran kept Iran occupied and prevented them from taking actions against Arab neighbors, including Afghanistan.

G.W. Bush should have totally focused on Afghanistan and left Iraq alone, all our military effort in Afghanistan would have been concentrated where it should have been.  My 'crystal ball' is no better than anyone else's, but I would guess America would not have been fighting a 20-year war in Afghanistan if this mistake hadn't been made.

 

 

"Inside the desperate, dangerous scramble to evacuate Kabul as Taliban seizes control" PBS NewsHour 8/16/2021

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SUMMARY:  Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban and the frenzy for Afghans and diplomats trying to flee the country reached a fever pitch Monday.  Additional U.S. troops are on their way to help with evacuations as the Taliban retake power 20 years after the American invasion.  Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports from Kabul, and congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins reports on the U.S. response.

 

 

"Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is an ‘American catastrophe,’ H.R. McMaster says" PBS NewsHour 8/16/2021

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SUMMARY:  To examine the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan and how it impacts U.S. interests, Judy Woodruff speaks to retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster.  He was National Security Advisor during the Trump administration and also served as a military officer in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2012, heading up a task force focused on combating corruption.  He is a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

 

 

"Does the fallout in Afghanistan hurt American credibility?" PBS NewsHour 8/16/2021

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SUMMARY:  To examine the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan and how it impacts U.S. interests and credibility, Judy Woodruff speaks to Laurel Miller, former deputy and then acting U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2013 to 2017.  She's now director of the Asia program at the International Crisis Group.

 

 

"Taliban leaders promise softer rule, but their actions send a different message" PBS NewsHour 8/17/2021

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SUMMARY:  As the Taliban cemented their hold on Afghanistan Tuesday and spoke in detail about plans for the country, evacuations resumed.  The top American general in the Middle East visited the Kabul airport to observe U.S. operations, now with nearly 4000 troops on the ground.  But there is still fear about what the future may bring.  With support from the Pulitzer Center, Jane Ferguson reports from Kabul.

 

 

"Can the Taliban be trusted to keep their promise of reasonable rule?  Two experts weigh in" PBS NewsHour 8/17/2021

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SUMMARY:  To make sense of the Taliban's plans for Afghanistan, Lisa Desjardins speaks to Ali Jalali, a former Minister of the Interior who served in the Afghan National Army.  He's now a professor at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.  And Torek Farhadi, an analyst and former advisor to the governor of Da Afghanistan Bank, ex-senior economic advisor to former Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

 

 

"Despite Taliban promises, Afghan women fear losing their freedoms and lives" PBS NewsHour 8/17/2021

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SUMMARY:  The plight of women and girls in Afghanistan, many of whom gained new freedoms over the past 20 years, is now among the most important priorities now that the Taliban have taken over.  With the help of author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Stephanie Sy tells us the story of a woman who persevered under the Taliban, flourished over the last 20 years, and escaped the Taliban's return just 48 hours ago.

 

 

"Chaos, cries for help outside Kabul airport as Taliban crack down on protesters" PBS NewsHour 8/18/2021

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SUMMARY:  Protests against the Taliban turned deadly as the insurgents-turned-rulers of Afghanistan shot into crowds in two cities.  In Kabul, the airlift of American, allied and Afghan civilians continues as more American troops land at the airport and desperate crowds remain outside.  Jane Ferguson reports from Kabul — with the support of the Pulitzer Center — about the fear and hopelessness in Afghanistan.

 

 

"Taliban interrogating women activists, creating a ‘climate of fear and intimidation’" PBS NewsHour 8/18/2021

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SUMMARY:  William Brangham discusses the future for Afghan women under Taliban rule with Rina Amiri, who focused on conflict resolution in Afghanistan for the United Nations and the U.S.; now a senior fellow at New York University's Center for Global Affairs.  And Nura Sediqe, a public policy fellow at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and member of the Afghan-American coalition.

 

 

"Thousands of Afghans can’t access the airport.  Those who can recall Taliban threats, abuse" PBS NewsHour 8/19/2021

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SUMMARY:  As more American and allied flights leave the capital of Afghanistan Thursday, an ever-growing panic descends on the city.  More American troops and marines arrived, but despite U.S. efforts, Taliban fighters are hindering movement toward the Kabul airport, leaving thousands of civilians trapped.  With support from the Pulitzer Center, Jane Ferguson reports on the situation in Kabul.

 

 

"Evacuating Afghans who helped U.S. a ‘high priority,’ national security official says" PBS NewsHour 8/19/2021

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SUMMARY:  For a senior perspective from the Biden administration on the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan and U.S. response and support of evacuation efforts, Judy Woodruff is joined by Jon Finer, the Deputy National Security Advisor.

 

 

"What went wrong in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan?  Two lawmakers weigh in" PBS NewsHour 8/19/2021

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SUMMARY:  As more American and allied flights are leaving the capital of Afghanistan Thursday, an ever-growing panic descends on the city.  More American troops and marines arrived, but despite U.S. efforts,Taliban fighters are hindering movement toward the Kabul airport, leaving thousands of civilians trapped.  With support from the Pulitzer Center, Jane Ferguson reports on the situation in Kabul.

 

 

"Frustrated by ill-prepared evacuation plan, anxious Afghans rush airport gates" PBS NewsHour 8/20/2021

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SUMMARY:  The U.S. says it has assurances from the Taliban that evacuations of Afghans who want to leave the country can continue after the withdrawal deadline of August 31st.  But the Taliban continues to harass and impede passage throughout Kabul.  Even with more evacuation flights out, throngs of people desperate to flee keep trying.  Jane Ferguson reports from Kabul, with support from the Pulitzer Center.

 

 

"The U.S. ignored corruption within the Afghan government.  Did that lead to its fall?" PBS NewsHour 8/20/2021

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SUMMARY:  As the Taliban faces protests and dissent across Afghanistan, William Brangham explores the collapse of the country's government — built and supported by the U.S. and allies for 20 years.  For a deeper perspective, Brangham speaks with Sarah Chayes, who covered the fall of the Taliban after 9/11 for NPR and served as advisor to several senior U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan.

 

 

"Afghans desperately try to flee; U.S. evacuation continues" PBS NewsHour 8/21/2021

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SUMMARY:  Chaos at Kabul airport continued as thousands of Afghans desperately tried to flee the country.  At the same time, at least 17,000 people have been evacuated from the country, 2,500 of them American nationals.  The Taliban came a step closer to taking over officially as the group’s co-founder and political leader Mullah Baradar arrived in Kabul to begin talks about forming a new government.  NewsHour Correspondent Jane Ferguson reports with support from The Pulitzer Center.

 

 

It is a sad day for America and a tragic day for Afghans.  Ala be with them.

OPINION - Shields and Brooks 1/10/2020

"Shields and Brooks on Iran conflict, impeachment trial standoff" PBS NewsHour 1/10/2020

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SUMMARY:  Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Amna Nawaz to discuss the week in politics, including how the Trump administration and Congress have handled conflict with Iran, indications House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is preparing to send articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial of the President and what all the tumult means for 2020 Democrats.

Amna Nawaz (NewsHour):  Back on Capitol Hill this week, the House of Representatives voted to check the President's war powers against Iran, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her Democratic Caucus to prepare for the next chapter on impeachment in the days ahead.

Here to help make sense of it all, as well as some eye-popping polling numbers from the Democratic primary field, are Shields and Brooks.  That's syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.

Happy Friday.  Welcome to you both.

Let's start overseas, shall we?

David, it was a week ago that the U.S. assassinated the Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Iraq, three days since Iran retaliated.

President Trump says he wants peace.  They just rolled out new sanctions against Iran today.  Is this de-escalation?

David Brooks, New York Times:  Yes.

A week ago, we didn't know where we were going.  And it certainly looks a lot calmer than it did a week ago.  And it looks more like a normal Middle East terror episode, in which case you have a terror army, whether it's Hezbollah or Iranian-state sponsored terrorism.  They're ramping up ramping up activities.

And then the U.S. says, stop.  You — let's — we're going to be in conflict, but let's not get carried away here.  You're pushing the boundaries here.

And so we do an action, and when you do this kind of action, like killing Soleimani, it's using violence as a form of communication, saying you have pushed the boundaries, time to stop.

And then the other side, the terrorist side, has a chance to say, no, we're going to keep going, or they have a chance to say, message received, we won't push the boundaries, it's not in our interests either.

And that seems to have been what has happened.  We have seen that through the Israeli-Hamas or fights.  We have seen it through other terror fights.  And it looks like a much more conventional sort of communication between a nation and a terror organization.

Amna Nawaz:  At the same time, Mark, we have had 176 civilians killed as a result of those escalated tensions, right?  That didn't happen in a vacuum, necessarily.

And now Iraq and Iran are kind of on the same page, wanting U.S. troops out, out of Iraq from the Iraqi Parliament, and out of the region from Iran, which has always been a stated goal.

I guess the question is — and we may not know this yet — but are we safer?  That's what the administration is arguing.

Mark Shields, syndicated columnist:  My argument, I guess, would be that we're not.

But I go to the words of one exceptionally well-read Marine general, who later became secretary of defense, who said, history teaches — history teaches us that nations with allies thrive, nations without allies wither.

Every year, Pew Research, a very respected polling operation, polls in the world, 32 different countries, on trust and confidence.  And the fact is, the United States under Donald Trump has plummeted in the world.

Among five world leaders, including Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin and Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Macron, the fact is that Donald is at the bottom.  He has 29 percent of the world has confidence in him; 64 percent don't.

This is a total reverse, total reverse from Barack Obama, when 64 percent of the world had confidence in his judgment.

We are isolated as a people.  I mean, Secretary Pompeo complained that the Brits and the Germans didn't go along.  (A) there is no support in their country for it.  (B) they were never consulted.

So, no, I think — I don't argue with David's assessment of the individual discrete events.  But I think the overall pattern is that we're paying a terrible price for isolation.

And alliances have been the saving strength of the United States and the Western world since World War II, and they are in total disrepair at this point.

Amna Nawaz:  A lot of the questions revolve around what will happen next, for sure, right?  There's concern there could be an increase in some of those proxy militias you had mentioned, David.

I want to play a sound bite for you, though, from President Trump at a rally in Ohio last night.  He was responding to the House's move to try to restrict some of those Presidential war powers that Presidents have had for several years now post-9/11.

Take a listen to what President Trump had to say last night:

President Donald Trump:  They're all trying to say, how dare you take him out that way?  You should get permission from Congress.  You should come in and tell us what you want to do.

(BOOING)

President Donald Trump:  You should come and tell us, so that we can call up the fake news that's back there, and we can leak it.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

Amna Nawaz:  David, to some degree, no surprise the House said, we want you to come to us before you take more action against Iran.

But then we also saw a Republican senator, right, Mike Lee from Utah, outraged after a briefing from military intelligence leaders that he felt was completely insufficient.

Is this the time you think Congress starts to claw back some of that power?

David Brooks:  No, I don't think so.

I mean, they have had the chance in bin Laden.  They have had a lot of chances, and the executive has taken this power.

I do think the laws we have are obsolete.  They're — for a time when not a terror war, whether it was like World War II or Vietnam, when there was a moment of peace and then a moment of war, and there was a transitionary moment where Congress would act between those two states.

But in an ongoing terror war, there's no moment of peace and there's no moment of war.  It's constant engagement.  And so for the President, in a position of constant conflict with Iran, where they're ramping up pressure, we're trying to fight them, a discrete episode seems to me outside the bounds of Congress.

Having said that, the President, executive branch shouldn't be running a long-running terror war without the constant communication with Congress and with the intelligence communities and the Intelligence Committees.

And so while I don't think Congress should be approving every little individual operation, it's certainly up to the executive branch to be in constant communication, so there are no surprises.  And that doesn't seem to have happened.

Amna Nawaz:  Mark, what do you make of the way the administration has been responding to those calls for greater oversight, maybe explaining and providing justification for this strike on Soleimani in the first place?

Mark Shields:  Oh, I don't think there's any question the President has asserted the total autonomy of his office.

I mean, he sees no need to consult.  He sees no congressional restraints.  And I think, in spite of the fact that the House did act on the war policy, it's not going to go anywhere in the Senate.

But there are there are pockets of resistance.  I mean, it was — whether it was Senator Lee or Congressman Gaetz in the House.  I mean, whether in fact it takes on a larger dimension remains to be seen.

But make no mistake about it.  Donald Trump and his administration make a serious mistake by not consulting.  If they're not with you on the takeoff, they're not going to be with you on the crash landing.

And there's no — they have no stake in what happens as far as his policy is concerned.  Obviously, they do care about the nation.  But as far as his policy and whatever political damage there is done to him, if they in no way are consulted or asked their opinion or their judgment or just told to shut up and join…

David Brooks:  And despite this episode with Soleimani, I do think there's a bipartisan move, almost a consensus, a populist consensus.

Trump has used military force less than any President since Jimmy Carter.

Mark Shields:  Yes.

David Brooks:  He's [Trump] not normally a military guy.

From the populists on the left and populists on the right in different versions, it's like the Middle East is a mess.  We are not good at dealing with that region.  Let's stay away.

And I do think, whether it's Mike Lee or people further on the left — Mike Lee's a Republican — there's a consensus, we shouldn't be involved in that region, or as little as possible.

TRUMP vs IRAN - Weapon of Mass Distraction

Forget impeachment details, let the distraction begin......

"Iranians unite to mourn military icon Qassem Soleimani" PBS NewsHour 1/6/2020

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SUMMARY:  Hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets Monday to mourn Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike Friday.  Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, led funeral prayers and wept over Soleimani's body.  But the fallout is more than emotional; as Iran and President Trump trade threats, the U.S. military is bracing for potential retaliation.  Nick Schifrin reports.

"Ambassador: Iran vows revenge, but has nothing against Americans" PBS NewsHour 1/6/2020

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SUMMARY:  The Friday killing of Iran’s best-known military commander in a U.S. airstrike prompted an outpouring of grief in Tehran -- along with vows of vengeance.  In the aftermath of Qassem Soleimani’s death, the country’s leaders and President Trump exchanged threats about what might come next.  To share Iran’s perspective, Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht-Ravanchi joins Judy Woodruff.

"What killing of top Iranian general means for nuclear deal and the U.S. in Middle East" PBS NewsHour 1/6/2020

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SUMMARY:  For two views on the latest developments in Iran and Iraq, Nick Schifrin speaks with Narges Bajoghli of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, author of “Iran Reframed: Anxieties of Power in the Islamic Republic,” and U.S. diplomat Ryan Crocker, who served as ambassador to Iraq, Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon and is now diplomat in residence at Princeton University.

"Iran says it has launched ballistic missiles at American air bases in Iraq" PBS NewsHour 1/7/2020

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SUMMARY:  After trading threats with the U.S., Iran said Tuesday night it launched ballistic missiles on Iraqi facilities housing U.S. troops in retaliation for the American killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani.  The attacks come after President Trump and top U.S. officials defended the Soleimani strike, which has been blamed for pushing the U.S. and Iran closer to war.  Judy Woodruff and Nick Schifrin report.

" Foreign policy experts weigh in on Trump’s Iran strategy" PBS NewsHour 1/7/2020

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SUMMARY:  The U.S. killing of one of Iran’s top military leaders has prompted questions about whether the Trump administration has an effective strategy for Iran, Iraq and the larger Middle East.  As Iran announces it has fired missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops, Nick Schifrin talks to Mara Karlin of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and the Hudson Institute’s Michael Doran.

"After missile strikes on Iraqi bases, U.S. and Iran both appear to de-escalate" PBS NewsHour 1/8/2020

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SUMMARY:  President Trump says Iran is “standing down” after firing missiles at Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops -- but causing no casualties.  But Iran says its goal is to see U.S. forces leave the Middle East.  The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Karim Sadjadpour joins Nick Schifrin, Yamiche Alcindor and Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest developments.

"U.S. should ‘drive a wedge’ between Iranian regime and its people, says Rep. Gallagher" PBS NewsHour 1/8/2020

NOTE:  The effect is exactly opposite, the Iranian people and government are more united.

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SUMMARY:  For a congressional Republican’s perspective on the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, we turn to Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a former Marine who deployed twice to Iraq as a commander of intelligence teams.  He joins Judy Woodruff to discuss why he supported the decision to kill Gen. Qassem Soleimani and what he expects next from Iran.

"Rep. Crow: Congressional questions about Soleimani strike ‘have not been answered’" PBS NewsHour 1/8/2020

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SUMMARY:  For a congressional Democrat’s take on the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, we turn to Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) a member of the House Armed Services Committee.  Crow is a lawyer and former Army Ranger who deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan during his military career.  He joins Judy Woodruff to discuss why he is not satisfied with the Trump administration’s handling of the Soleimani strike.

"Will fallout from Soleimani killing drive U.S. troops from Iraq?" PBS NewsHour 1/10/2020

Fallout?  Russia wins, ISIS wins, (war criminal) Bashar Hafez al-Assad wins.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The fallout from the Trump administration’s killing of Qasem Soleimani continues to unfold -- and it could affect the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq.  On Friday, Sec. of State Mike Pompeo rejected Iraqi calls for the U.S. to plan troop withdrawal.  Retired Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmit, who served in the George W. Bush administration, and York University’s Thabit Abdullah join Nick Schifrin to discuss.

IRAN - Let Leash the Dogs of War

Reminder from the past...


"How U.S. airstrikes could affect ongoing tensions with Iran" PBS NewsHour 12/30/2019

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SUMMARY:  Words and actions between the U.S. and Iran are escalating.  On Sunday, U.S. military strikes on an Iraqi militia group backed by Iran killed 25 fighters in what the U.S. said was retaliation for rocket fire that killed an American defense contractor.  Brian Hook, the State Department’s special representative for Iran, and Vali Nasr of Johns Hopkins University join Nick Schifrin to discuss.

"Iraqis supporting Iran-backed militia attack U.S. Embassy, demand U.S. withdrawal" PBS NewsHour 12/31/2019

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SUMMARY:  In Baghdad, supporters of an Iran-backed militia remained outside the gates of the U.S. Embassy after attempting to storm the compound earlier in the day.  The U.S. military planned to move more Marines in, but the Iraqi protesters insisted they won’t leave until their demand -- that U.S. forces leave Iraq entirely -- is met.  The Washington Post’s Mustafa Salim joins Nick Schifrin from Baghdad.

"How Iran could benefit from Iraqi outrage over U.S. airstrikes" PBS NewsHour 12/31/2019

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SUMMARY:  A tense new year has dawned in Baghdad after U.S. airstrikes against an Iranian-backed militia prompted one of the worst attacks on a U.S. Embassy in years.  Bilal Wahab of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Kirsten Fontenrose of the Atlantic Council join Nick Schifrin to discuss whether the U.S. is falling into an Iranian “trap,” what the Iraqi people want and what to expect next.

"Who was Qassam Soleimani, and what does his death mean for Iran — and the U.S.?" PBS NewsHour 1/3/2020

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SUMMARY:  Qassam Soleimani was the Middle East's most recognized military commander, strategist and operational chief of Iran's militant proxies and a symbol of its regional ambitions.  He was killed in a targeted U.S. drone attack Friday at Baghdad’s international airport.  Nick Schifrin reports and joins special correspondent Jane Ferguson and Judy Woodruff to discuss his death and the regional response.

"Why the U.S. military targeted Qassam Soleimani — and how Iran might react" PBS NewsHour 1/3/2020

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SUMMARY:  How is Iran likely to react to the American military strike that killed top general Qassam Soleimani -- and how well prepared is the U.S. to withstand that response?  Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and retired Adm. Michael Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, join Nick Schifrin to discuss Soleimani's role and how Iran will adapt without him.

The spin..........

"Kaine says Trump’s Iran policy hurts U.S. allies, pushes enemies closer together" PBS NewsHour 1/3/2020

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SUMMARY:  An elite Iranian general is dead, and the United States and Iran appear even closer to conflict.  In Washington, members of Congress had mixed reactions to the killing of Qassam Soleimani.  Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees, joins Judy Woodruff to discuss why he believes President Trump should have consulted Congress before the strike.

"Risch says Soleimani was ‘ratcheting up’ attacks on the U.S." PBS NewsHour 1/3/2020

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SUMMARY:  When the U.S. military killed an elite Iranian general in Iraq on Friday, Washington called it self-defense, while Tehran called it a crime -- and vowed vengeance.  Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, joins Judy Woodruff to discuss the evidence that Qassam Soleimani presented an imminent threat to American lives and why his assassination “had to be done.”

..........end spin cycle.

"U.S.-Iran tensions: a diplomatic quagmire for the Middle East" PBS NewsHour 1/4/2020

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SUMMARY:  Iran is vowing revenge after U.S. airstrikes on Friday killed the country’s military leader Qassem Suleimani.  Thousands of American troops are heading to the Middle East as tensions with Tehran escalate.  Douglas Ollivant, former Director for Iraq at the National Security Council under the Bush and Obama administrations, joins Hari Sreenivasan to discuss the diplomatic fallout.

"Anger in Beirut as Hezbollah supporters mourn Suleimani" PBS NewsHour 1/5/2020

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SUMMARY:  Members of Hezbollah and their supporters gathered on Sunday in Beirut, Lebanon, to mourn the death of Iran's top military leader, General Qassem Suleimani, who was killed by a U.S. military airstrike on Friday in Iraq.  NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Jane Ferguson reports on how Iran’s most powerful proxy group is responding to the loss of their revered hero.

TRUMP AGENDA - Iran

"How Trump’s remarks on Iran strain U.S.’s welcome in Iraq" PBS NewsHour 2/5/2019

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SUMMARY:  Over the weekend, President Trump told CBS News that the U.S. mission in Iraq should expand to include watching Iran -- a change that would exceed what Iraq has invited the U.S. to do in its country.  The statement sparked criticism from Iraqi leadership, as well as reassurances from the top American commander in the Middle East that the U.S. respects Iraq's wishes.  Nick Schifrin reports.

WAR AGAINST ISIS - Latest Civilian Death Estimates

"‘Systemic shortfalls’ obscure true civilian cost of U.S. airstrikes against ISIS" PBS NewsHour 12/31/2018

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SUMMARY:  The U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria released its latest estimate of civilians killed by U.S. airstrikes since 2014.  Over the past four years, 1,139 civilians were killed by accident.  But how was this figure calculated, and is it accurate?  Larry Lewis of the Center for Naval Analyses, a former official at the Defense and State Departments, joins Nick Schifrin to discuss.

IRAQ - Lose of Biblical Paradise

"Why Iraq’s biblical paradise is becoming a salty wasteland" PBS NewsHour 12/20/2018

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SUMMARY:  In addition to recovering and rebuilding after a brutal war with ISIS, Iraq is facing a dire water shortage.  Levels in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers have plummeted, in part because neighboring Turkey built a dam upstream that restricts the flow into Iraq.  The remaining water is too salty to sustain life.  Special correspondent Jane Ferguson reports on the crisis and its agricultural impact.

AMERICAN MILITARY - Wounds of War

"New generation faces mental ‘wounds of war’" PBS NewsHour 10/17/2018

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SUMMARY:  President Trump awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on Wednesday to Sgt. Maj. John Canley, who saved fellow Marines in Vietnam.  Meanwhile, another veteran made headlines recently by admitting that he needed saving.  Kansas City mayoral candidate Jason Kander dropped out of the race citing PTSD.  Reps. Ruben Gallego (D) and Brian Mast (R) join Nick Schifrin to discuss challenges for younger veterans.

RELIGION - Iran Rising in Iraq (3 parts)

"Does Iran’s deep religious influence in Iraq translate to politics?" PBS NewsHour 12/6/2017

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SUMMARY:  During the rule of Saddam Hussein, few Iranians dared to make the religious pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbala in Iraq.  But the toppling of Saddam has drawn millions of worshippers back, revealing Iran's powerful influence there.  In the first of three reports, special correspondent Reza Sayah explores the scope of and limits on that influence, in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

"This Iran-backed militia helped save Iraq from ISIS.  Now Washington wants them to disband" PBS NewsHour 12/7/2017

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SUMMARY:  In 2014, when most U.S.  ground forces were gone and Iraqi forces were too weak, the threat of ISIS in Iraq spawned the PMF, a government-sanctioned militia that was armed, funded and trained by Iran, America's long-time foe.  In the second installment of our series “Iran Rising in Iraq,” special correspondent Reza Sayah reports in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

"After fighting common enemy ISIS, how will rising tensions between U.S. and Iran affect Iraq?" PBS NewsHour 12/8/2017

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SUMMARY:  In a 2016 offensive to take Mosul back from ISIS, the U.S. and Iran fought on the same side without ever publicly acknowledging it.  The militant group defeated, both countries still have a stake in Iraq and tensions have been rising.  Special correspondent Reza Sayah has the final installment of our series Iran Rising in Iraq, in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

NEWSHOUR BOOKSHELF - "Shooting Ghosts"

"Marine and photojournalist reframe the war-wounded soul in a new memoir" PBS NewsHour 11/30/2017

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SUMMARY:  Photographer Finbarr O'Reilly and former U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Thomas Brennan both went through the intensity of combat, and the loneliness and doubt that follows.  Now they’ve written a dual memoir, "Shooting Ghosts," a story of two lives that came together in war.  The co-authors join special correspondent Nick Schifrin for a conversation.

The War Horse org

ISIS - After

Reminder, the extreme interpretation of Islam by ISIS is an idea, and ideas are never defeated by military action.

"The battle for Mosul is over, but this hidden ISIS danger could lurk for years" PBS NewsHour 10/18/2017

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SUMMARY:  Iraq may have ousted Islamic States militants from the city of Mosul over the summer, but the major task of finding and destroying the mines, booby traps and bombs remains.  A security firm hired by the U.S. and Iraqi workers are making progress to clear major areas, but it could take years or even decades.  Special correspondent Marcia Biggs reports on the safety of Mosul after ISIS.

"Raqqa has fallen, but ISIS isn't going away" PBS NewsHour 10/20/2017

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SUMMARY:  U.S.-backed forces in Syria have declared victory in the city of Raqqa, the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State.  But four years of ISIS control and four months of fighting have left a majority of the city uninhabitable.  Special correspondent Nick Schifrin reports on what this milestone means for Raqqa and what's next for ISIS as it plans to revert to its roots and go back underground.

WAR ON ISIS - The Shrinking of ISIS

"ISIS 'radically shrinking' amid U.S.-supported campaigns.  Here's why" PBS NewsHour 8/7/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  At the end of a brutal campaign to retake Mosul in Iraq, and as the fight for Raqqa continues, where does the battle against the Islamic State stand?  Judy Woodruff speaks with Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk, who says the Islamic State is “radically shrinking” and that President Trump's decision to delegate rapid decision-making has greatly assisted their efforts.

IRAN - ISIS Attack

"Islamic State group claims attacks on Iran's parliament, shrine" by Larisa Epatko, PBS NewsHour 6/7/2017

Excerpt

A coordinated double attack in Iran on Wednesday left 12 people dead and wounded dozens, according to state media.  The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on its website.  If true, it would be the first major attack by the terrorist group in Iran.

Attackers armed with pistols and assault rifles stormed the Iranian parliament building in the capital Tehran Wednesday morning as people scrambled to escape, some through windows.  A session of parliament was in progress at the time.  Lawmakers took cover in the locked chamber during the siege.

The same morning, more assailants struck the mausoleum for Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Khomeini in southern Tehran.  At least one attacker detonated a suicide vest, according to state broadcaster Irib.  Khomeini led the 1979 Islamic revolution that removed the Western-backed shah and was the country's first supreme leader.

The sieges ended with four of the attackers dead.  Later in the day, Iran's ISNA news agency reported that police in Tehran arrested five suspects, according to Reuters.

Iran is fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.  The last major attack in Iran, which is majority Shiite, was in 2010 when Sunni extremists bombed a mosque in the Sistan-Baluchestan province.

The militant group's Aamaq news agency released a video purporting to show the inside of the parliament with a body lying on the floor.  A voice says in Arabic, “Do you think we will leave?  We will remain, God willing.”

President Donald Trump offered the following statement: “We grieve and pray for the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in Iran, and for the Iranian people, who are going through such challenging times.  We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences and said Russia “resolutely condemns” the violence.  He pledged to continue fighting international terrorism.

"How the ISIS attack on Iran may escalate regional conflict" PBS NewsHour 6/7/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Gunmen stormed Iran's parliament building Wednesday morning, igniting a siege that lasted for hours, killing 13.  Meanwhile, the shrine of the Ayatollah Khomeini was also attacked.  Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner reports, and William Brangham speaks with Randa Slim of the Middle East Institute and Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

NEWS HOUR'S IMHO - Veteran's Forever War

"What it's like to be a veteran of a war that never ends" PBS NewsHour 5/26/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Sometimes author Brian Castner asks himself, “How many tours would have been enough to know, deep down in my bones, that I had done my part?”  After three tours, Castner got home from Iraq a decade ago.  But the war isn't over, it's just gone on without him.  Castner gives his humble opinion on why being a veteran today feels like having unfinished business.

TRUMP AGENDA - Expanded War on Terror

IMHO:  Those who think military power will end all terrorism are, sadly, mistaken.  They are failing to recognize that terrorists operate in small groups or are loners.  And the most dangerous are terrorists from their own country, not outsiders.

Military action can only defeat armies.  In the case of al-Shabab, they have never attacked the U.S.

"Is there a human toll of giving the military more latitude to strike terror targets?" PBS NewsHour 3/31/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  On the campaign stump, Donald Trump promised to give the U.S. military more freedom to strike terrorist targets around the world.  Now the President has approved the Pentagon's plan to intensify its targeting of al-Shabab strongholds in Somalia.  Hari Sreenivasan speaks with former State Department official Sarah Sewall about the new changes for military operations.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  Among the countries where the U.S. is fighting terrorism are Iraq, Yemen and Somalia.  Now the President has approved the Pentagon's plan to beef up its targeting of Al-Shabaab in Somalia, giving the military greater latitude to decide when and where to strike.

For more on all of this, we turn to Sarah Sewall.  She served as undersecretary of state for civilian security, democracy and human rights during the Obama administration.  She's written extensively about military operations and civilian casualties.  She's now at Johns Hopkins University.

Ms. Sewall, I want to first ask — just walk us through what the changes are that the Pentagon just announced.

SARAH SEWALL, Former State Department Official:  Well, essentially, President Obama had created two categories for thinking about the use of force in the context of the war on terror.

One was more like targeted killing with more restricted types of targets that you could both choose and were forced to identify, and it controlled the effects of those uses of force more closely.  The other is more like what Americans would understand as war, general hostilities.

And what has happened is, the President — the current President has now moved, according to reports, moved the Somalia engagement of U.S. forces from the category of more targeted uses of force to that of general hostilities.

SATAN'S ARMY - Iraq, More ISIS Mass Graves

REMINDER:  'ISIL (aka ISIS) is a theocracy, proto-state and a Salafi or Wahhabi group.  It follows an extremist interpretation of Islam, promotes religious violence, and regards Muslims who do not agree with its interpretations as infidels or apostates.'

The members of ISIS are NOT mainstream followers if Islam, and DO NOT represent the vast majority of Muslims.

"Another Mass Grave Dug by ISIS in Iraq, and a Ghastly Ritual Renewed" by Tim Arango, New York Times 11/30/2016

The battle was over in Hamam al-Alil, Iraq, an old spa resort town that the country's security forces had wrested from the Islamic State a few days ago, but one Iraqi soldier was still on a very personal mission.

The soldier, Zaman Mijwal, was looking for his older brother, Munther, a former policeman he described as “a quiet man, a poor man,” who lived in a nearby village but hadn't been heard from in weeks.

Mr. Mijwal's circuit had taken him to a stretch of road flanked by two dirt fields.  He pointed to one side, where decaying, headless corpses were lying in heaps of trash on a barren plot of land that had once been a shooting range for the Iraqi Army.

“He may be there,” he said.

He pointed to the other side of the road, just an expanse of earth that looked freshly moved.

“Or he may be there.”

With every mile of territory the Iraqi security forces retake from the Islamic State, it seems another mass grave is uncovered.  It has become nearly ritual, and despairingly regular.

The legacy of the mass grave in Iraq is long, stretching back further than the Islamic State to the times of Saddam Hussein's industrial-scale killings.  It is the horrible symbol of what has been for decades a gut-wrenching constant of Iraqi life, the disappearance of loved ones into the machinery of despotism.

For Iraqis, the Islamic State, for which the mass grave is as much a part of the group's infrastructure as makeshift prisons and slave-holding houses, is just a new form of tyranny with direct links to Mr. Hussein's regime.  Many former Baathist officers from Mr. Hussein's security forces populate the top ranks of the Islamic State, mimicking the former dictator's tactics.

Lately, with the Islamic State under pressure from Iraqi security forces, the group's cruelty has gone into overdrive: Many of the mass graves recently uncovered, the biggest of which was in Hamam al-Alil, contain the bodies of local men.  Most of the buried were former members of the security forces who were executed only in recent weeks, after the campaign for Mosul began.

There are those, like Jamal Abul Younis, who count themselves as lucky.  Mr. Younis is a former policeman from Hamam al-Alil who was also marked for execution, but survived by hiding in a hole in the ground, obscured by an air cooler, in his dirt-floor house.  Of his time hiding out, he said, “Each one hour was like one year.”

He is now one of just a few surviving witnesses to the Islamic State's killings in Hamam al-Alil.  One evening around 8 p.m. several weeks ago, he said, he watched from his rooftop as eight minibuses drove toward the area where the mass grave was discovered, and he heard gunshot after gunshot.

“I saw DAESH bury 200 bodies over here,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State, which is also known as ISIS or ISIL.  (The official government estimate is that roughly 100 people were killed in Hamam al-Alil.  But Human Rights Watch, after carrying out its own investigation, believes that at least 300 were killed there.)

In the days before the killings, he said, Islamic State militants herded hundreds of people — perhaps thousands — from nearby villages and took them to Hamam al-Alil, using them as human shields against the possibility of American airstrikes.

In the city, he said, the militants gathered the people, reciting verses of the Quran and praying to God to protect them from Iraq's Shiite militias and army.  Then they separated out the former policemen, many of whom, after the Islamic State conquered their lands more than two years ago, repented for their service and made peace with their new rulers.

Now, as government forces waged an offensive to reclaim these territories, the Islamic State saw them as potential spies, or a fifth column preparing to rise up and join the security forces, and ordered them killed.

“I cannot believe I am still alive,” Mr. Younis said.

For Iraqis, the pain of not knowing can be the worst of all.  The International Commission on Missing Persons, a Netherlands-based organization, has estimated that up to a million Iraqis have gone missing in recent history.  That encompasses the war between Iran and Iraq, the mass killings ordered by Mr. Hussein after a Shiite uprising in 1991, the Iraqi government's Anfal chemical-weapon strikes against the Kurds in the late 1980s, and the more recent sectarian civil war of the last decade.

The commission noted on its website that there are “millions of relatives of the missing in Iraq who struggle with the uncertainty surrounding the fate of a loved one.”

Go anywhere in Iraq, especially in the south where Shiites dominate, and knock on almost any door, and you will hear a story of a lost loved one and, improbably, of a remaining shard of hope.

Nihad Jawad, a teacher from the southern city of Hilla, said that one night in 1991, her brother left home and was never heard from again.  She has heard all sorts of rumors — that he was seen being apprehended by the military, that he was shot.  “We searched everywhere for him, and we have found nothing,” she said.  “We still have hope that he is still held in one of the secret prisons.”

The Islamic State's brutality has written a new chapter in that dark history.  The number of bodies has overwhelmed the capacity of the Iraqi government, and very few of them are ever identified by DNA testing.

In Diyala Province, where the Islamic State was once strong, a father who lost his son about two years ago said he scours jihadist websites for videos that might show his missing child.  He rushes to the scene of every mass grave uncovered in the province.

“The most difficult thing is when my grandson asks me about his father,” said the man, who gave his name as Abu Marwan.  “I answer, ‘He is on a trip and will return one day.'”

Mr. Mijwal, the soldier, like millions of others here who have endured the same painful ritual, has found no answers about what happened to his brother.

“We have no information about him,” he said.  “So I came here.  It's very difficult for me.  I don't know his destiny, his fate.  At the very least, I need to find his body.  This is the important thing for us.  So we can have a funeral.”

He added, “Thousands of people don't know the fate of their loved ones.”

There is a well-known Iraqi novel called “Saddam City,” by Mahmoud Saeed, in which the protagonist disappears into one of the old Hussein regime's many prisons, leaving his loved ones scrambling for information.

In the novel, pondering his own fate as a prisoner, he recalls “the futility of trying to help a neighbor find her husband, who had disappeared.” They visited a hospital, where “we were no more than the latest link in a long chain of people who visited hospitals inquiring about missing loved ones.”

A few pages later, Mr. Saeed wrote, “Events like this happened routinely.”

Just up the road from the Hamam al-Alil killing grounds where Mr. Mijwal searched for his brother, others were looking for answers, too.

A former policeman named Muneer Muhammed, 37, said that he hid on the night of the killings, but that his brother, Anmar, another former policeman, was among the hundreds rounded up.  “They took the former policemen because they were afraid they would rise up,” he said.

Tears were streaming down his cheeks.

“I'm crying because I was able to save myself, but I couldn't save him,” he said.

ROAD TO MOSUL - Civilian Executions

"ISIS executes civilians as Iraqi forces gain ground in Mosul" PBS NewsHour 11/12/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  As Iraqi forces continue to gain ground in Mosul against Islamic State militants, thousands of residents are attempting to flee the city.  The United Nations reports that ISIS is carrying out mass executions of civilians.  Alex Milutinovic, who is directing relief efforts in Iraq for the International Rescue Committee, joins Alison Stewart to discuss the plight of those civilians.

ALISON STEWART, PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND ANCHOR:  Iraq's government says its security forces, with U.S. support, reclaimed two more districts in Mosul today from ISIS militants.  This footage released today by the Iraqi defense ministry shows helicopter attacks on ISIS positions to dislodge militants who have occupied Iraq's second largest city for two years.  The defense ministry says it has destroyed more than 40 ISIS hideouts and killed about 900 militants in the past month.

As thousands of Mosul residents try to flee the city, the United Nations reports ISIS is carrying out mass executions of civilians.

Joining me now to talk about this is Alex Milutinovic, who is directing relief efforts in Iraq for the International Rescue Committee.  He is in the Iraqi city of Erbil, about 50 miles east of Mosul.

And, Alex, we understand from the World Health Organization, as many as 48,000 people have fled Mosul.  Where are they going?

ALEKSANDAR MILUTINOVIC, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE:  At the moment, we have over 50,000 people that have fled the surrounding of Mosul City.  Most of the people, two-thirds of them, are leaving towards the camps and the remaining one third of people are living with host community.

ALISON STEWART:  Is the Islamic State allowing people to leave?  Because there have been reports that the idea is to use civilians — their idea is to use civilians as human shields.

ALEKSANDAR MILUTINOVIC:  Unfortunately, the civilians are not allowed to leave the Mosul City.  They are being used as a human shield and our concern goes to the people of Mosul City who are now trapped in a very difficult situation.  They are basically trapped between the — you know, in the fighting zone and they have a hard time fleeing and finding safety.

IRAQ - Kirkuk Attack

"Why the Islamic State tried an audacious attack on Kirkuk" PBS NewsHour 11/10/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In October, the Islamic State launched an offensive on the city of Kirkuk, Iraq.  The attack was ultimately suppressed by Kurdish military forces, but it also diverted other anti-ISIS efforts and possibly escalated ethnic tensions in the culturally diverse city.  Special correspondent Christopher Livesay reports from Kirkuk.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  One of the challenges overseas that the new administration will inherit is the war in Iraq.

It's been almost a month since the operation to retake the ISIS-held city of Mosul began.  Early on, the extremists sought to divert Kurdish forces from the fight by attacking Kirkuk, the oil capital of Northern Iraq that's been held by the Kurds for more than two years.

Special correspondent Christopher Livesay recently visited the multi-ethnic city to see how it withstood the attack.

CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY, Special correspondent:  Kirkuk is over 100 miles southeast of the ISIS-held city of Mosul.

But, on October 21, no one could tell the difference.  It was just four days into the Iraqi-led offensive to recapture Mosul, but, as Kirkuk residents slept, a unit of ISIS fighters launched an attack on multiple locations throughout the city.  The assault would last more than two days.

When it was over, 116 people were dead, including police, military, and civilians, and more than 80 of the ISIS fighters were killed.  Among the dead and injured, guests at the neighboring Dar al Salam and Snobar hotels in the city center.

Mustafa Mohammed owns both.

This is the aftermath of an RPG right here?

MUSTAFA MOHAMMED, Hotel Owner:  That's right.  Yes.  And they went on the second floor and third floor and the fourth floor.

CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:  You can still see the bullet holes that riddle the walls.  Out this window here, you can see what looks like a bulletproof vest spread open.  You have got a pot full of food, bottles of waters, ammunition belts and clothing strewn about.

Once inside the hotel, the militants had a commanding view of government areas.  The hotel is just across the street from the compound of Najmaldin Karim, the governor of Kirkuk.

NAJMALDIN KARIM, Governor, Kirkuk Province:  We watched them on our monitor and the cameras from outside.  We could see them.  And when they tried to come out, a couple of them came to detonate their belt, and they were killed by our police.

FIGHT FOR IRAQ - Road to Mosul

"On the road to Mosul, retreating ISIS fighters aren't going quietly" PBS NewsHour 10/31/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Two weeks into their offensive, Iraqi troops crossed the city limits of Mosul, the last Islamic State stronghold in Iraq.  Special correspondent Christopher Livesay filed this report as troops moved in, civilians fled and the Islamic State fighters showed they weren't giving up without a fight.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  As we reported earlier, Iraqi troops crossed the city limits of the ISIS-held city of Mosul today.  Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that the militants two choices are — quote — “surrender or die.”

Iraqi special forces fought into the city's eastern outskirts at Gogjali.  The road there has been long and dangerous.

Special correspondent Christopher Livesay was there as the troops moved in.  And he filed this report.

CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY, Special correspondent:  This is the road to Mosul, littered with the scorched debris of ISIS in retreat.  But they are not going quietly.  The sky is black with smoke billowing from the oil fields ISIS has set ablaze.  The terror group held this territory for more than two years, and, in that time, they built an elaborate industry to manufacture IEDs and suicide car bombs.

Only now can they see that up close.

This is a suicide car that they were in the process of packing with TNT, but, apparently, they didn't have enough time before the invasion started.  So, they had to run out.  But it's still packed with explosives.

The suicide car bomber appeared to have gotten away and set off the fighting this morning in Gogjali, a neighborhood in the outskirts of Mosul, near an army Iraq roadblock.

And these soldiers with a .50-caliber machine gun?

MAN:  Machine gun?

CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:  They were able to stop him.

But the driver was still able to detonate his vehicle.  His body is now covered by debris, his vehicle lodged in the roadblock.  The forces moving on ISIS territory are varied, including Shia militias backed by Iran and security forces from the Kurdish region known as Peshmerga.

But it's the Iraq army that is leading the charge in Mosul proper.  By midday, the ISIS side of the battlefront was still for a moment.  And these terrified civilians saw their chance to flee the Islamic State after two years of captivity.  They are the lucky ones.  Reports are mounting of ISIS rounding up locals by the thousands to use as human shields inside Mosul.

One mother didn't even have time to stop and give her name.

WOMAN (through translator):  The last time we tried to run away, they shot at us.  This time, we had to stay very low, so they couldn't hit us.  Today was the first chance that we had.

CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:  We found this 20-year-old shepherd fleeing east with his flock, searching for shelter in hastily built refugee camps.  He said ISIS wouldn't allow him to attend school and punished him for breaking strict Islamic dress codes.

MAN (through translator):  I spent five days in jail for wearing long pants.  They beat me in there, lashed me.  Now I know I'm in a safe place, thank God.

CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:  But the relief is bittersweet.  He had to leave behind his parents, brothers and sisters.  Just when the coast looked clear, ISIS proved it wasn't giving up without a fight.

(GUNFIRE)

CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY:  Gunfire cracks all around.  At least one Iraqi soldier is shot dead.  But Iraqi special forces are quick to rally and return fire on virtually every building lining this road that leads to the heart of Mosul.

MAN (through translator):  We are waiting to go inside the city of Mosul.  Mosul is our land.  We will enter in three or four days.  God willing, we will fly our flag on the city.

"The challenge of stabilizing a recaptured Mosul" PBS NewsHour 11/3/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  As the Iraqi military continues its push into the Islamic State-stronghold of Mosul, how are the disparate forces who make up the coalition working together, and how does Iraq plan to stabilize the city and prevent ethnic tensions?  Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk talks with Hari Sreenivasan about the operation to retake the city and the coming fight against the militants in Raqqa.

IRAQ - Mosul in the Crosshairs

"Why capturing Mosul is a critical step toward defeating ISIS" PBS NewsHour 10/17/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Iraqi forces and their allies opened an offensive Monday to wrest the city of Mosul from Islamic State forces.  While the Iraqi commander issued a confident assessment, balancing the various factions taking part in the fight is a complicated matter.  Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner reports and Jeffrey Brown speaks with former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Mosul and the start of operations to retake Iraq's second largest city from the Islamic State group.

Jeffrey Brown will speak with a former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq in a moment, but, first, chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner reports on today's events.

MARGARET WARNER (NewsHour):  Gunfire sounded all day, across the outskirts of Mosul.  Columns of smoke billowed from artillery fire and U.S. coalition airstrikes and from oil ignited by ISIS fighters to blind attacking planes.

Long anti-ISIS convoys advanced, and, by late in the day, the overall Iraqi commander issued a confident assessment.

LT. GEN. TALIB SHAGHATI, Iraqi Army (through translator):  The operations are going very well and according to plan.  Sometimes, we are ahead of the plan because of the high morale and the fighters' strong will to fight the Islamic State group and liberate Mosul, which has been under ISIS rule for the past two years.

MARGARET WARNER:  For the Iraqi army, the campaign for Mosul is by far its largest operation yet against the Islamic State.  U.S. intelligence estimates that up to 4,500 ISIS fighters are in the city.  Other estimates run to 8,000.

LT.  GEN.  STEPHEN TOWNSEND, U.S. Army:  This may prove to be a long and tough battle, but the Iraqis have prepared for it, and we will stand by them.

MARGARET WARNER:  Complicating matters, balancing the various factions taking part in the fight.  Kurdish forces began today by seizing several towns on the eastern fringes of Mosul.  They will be part of a five-pronged assault, including Iraqi army brigades, plus Sunni tribal fighters and police.  The ultimate drive into Mosul will likely be made by Iraqi special forces.

Providing air cover and assisting on the ground is the American military, including special operations troops.  Shiite militias backed by Iran are also taking part, but they have been accused of atrocities against Sunnis in other cities and may be kept out of Mosul proper.

Meanwhile, Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, complained of being left out of the Mosul offensive.

PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, Turkey (through translator):  Look now.  The operation in Mosul has started.  The operation continues.  And what do they say?  Turkey shouldn't enter Mosul.  How can I do that?  I share 350 kilometers of border with Iraq, and I am under threat on that border.

MARGARET WARNER:  Erdogan said again he will keep some 3,000 Turkish-trained fighters in northernmost Iraq, despite objections from Baghdad.  As the fighting starts in earnest, concerns are also rising over the more than one million civilians still in the city.  The U.N. and other organizations say they're preparing for up to 200,000 refugees.

For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Margaret Warner.

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  And now perspectives of James Jeffrey, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq from 2010 to 2012, and currently fellow at the Washington Institute, a think tank and policy analysis group.

"What's being done to avoid a humanitarian crisis in Mosul" PBS NewsHour 10/18/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  As Iraq fights to reclaim Mosul from ISIS, the chance of a humanitarian crisis is a growing concern.  John Irvine of Independent Television News reports and Jeffrey Brown talks to David Miliband, CEO of the International Rescue Committee, about the struggles for civilians caught in the crossfire, what the UN has done to prepare for the aftermath and the upcoming task of rebuilding the city.

"Petraeus says there's a bigger challenge to come once Iraq retakes Mosul from ISIS" PBS NewsHour 10/20/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The battle for Mosul is the most important of the two-year campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq.  Judy Woodruff speaks with retired Gen. David Petraeus, former commander of the Multi-National Force Iraq, about the current combat mission, as well as what he says is the greater challenge of governance of the region after ISIS has been dislodged.