Senior Program Officer on the Middle East and Africa, National Endowment for Democracy
Iraqi from Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, who left the country during the unsuccessful 1991uprisings after the Gulf War; Senior Program Officer on the Middle East and Africa at the National Endowment for Democracy, a private nonprofit think-tank funded by Congress
Iraq: That 'Other' War As the US prepares to send 30,000 or more troops to Afghanistan, Iraq has seen a dramatic decrease in violence. But politics is another matter. Today, Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi was given a few more days to approve or veto a new election law that is crucial to the benchmarks established for US withdrawal.
Iraq: That 'Other' War As the US prepares to send 30,000 or more troops to Afghanistan, Iraq has seen a dramatic decrease in violence, less today than at any time since the US-led invasion of 2003. All 120,000 American troops are out of the cities, replaced by Iraqi forces. Complete US withdrawal is supposed to be paved by elections early next year, but powerful ethnic differences — all too familiar -- have caused it to be delayed. Today, Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi was given a few more days to approve or veto a new election law that is crucial to the benchmarks established for withdrawal. Could the inability to form a stable government mean a return of violence? Would American troops be pressed back into action? What would that mean for President Obama's plan to increase forces in Afghanistan?
Who's to blame for the opioid crisis? Some of the lawyers who took on Big Tobacco are now going after Big Pharma. It’s all about the deadly epidemic of opioid use. Are the drug companies to blame? What about the users? Later, on today’s Talking Point: making sense of Britain’s upset election.
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.