Middle East Deputy Program Director, International Crisis Group
Middle East Deputy Program Director of the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit organization that works to prevent conflict around the world, and author of A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq, and the Gassing of Halabja
The Iraqi People Have Voted Again: What's Next? Nineteen million people were eligible to vote for 6200 candidates nationwide with 325 parliamentary seats at stake. Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission says 62% turned out nationwide in yesterday’s election -- 61% in the Sunni province of Anbar and 80% of the Kurds. In Baghda, though, only 51% went to the polls.
The Iraqi People Have Voted Again: What's Next? Nineteen million people were eligible to vote yesterday for 6200 candidates nationwide with 325 parliamentary seats at stake. Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission says 62% turned out nationwide, despite rocket and mortar attacks that killed 38 people in Baghdad: 61% in the Sunni province of Anbar and 80% of the Kurds. It'll be days until the results are in and probably months until a new government can formed. But already there's talk of the impact on US withdrawal. Will a new leader be able to maintain democracy? Will there be a dictatorship or an attempted coup? Will Iran gain even more influence as the US pulls away?
Lessons from Basra, Once Called an Iraqi Success Story Today's Washington Post says that, as British troops pull back from the southern Iraqi city of Basra, Shiite militias are battling among themselves . That's raising new questions about the stability of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated central government. Joost Hiltermann is Middle East Deputy Program Director of the International Crisis Group, which has produced a report on Basra .
The Lost Secrets of Saddam Hussein The Iraqi government says it's interrogating the person whose cell-phone pictures of the execution of Saddam Hussein found their way to TV and the Internet. While there's still controversy over the execution, but the consequences of Hussein's death go beyond disputes about the way he was killed. Billions of dollars are missing, mass graves are still uncovered, and countless victims will never see a murderer held to account. We look at the history of atrocities and the mysteries that Saddam took to his grave. How much help did he get from western governments and corporations? Will Iraq's current leaders pursue those questions or let them go unanswered?
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?