• In surprise visit to Iraq, Pompeo seeks to reassure Kurds on Syria withdrawal

    In surprise visit to Iraq, Pompeo seeks to reassure Kurds on Syria withdrawal

    Jan 09, 2019 12:49 PM EDT

    ... the Islamic State group, State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said. Pompeo also promoted the U.S. push to move Iraq toward energy independence, said Palladino. Iraq imports electricity and natural gas from Iran to meet its energy needs. Iran has cultivated close ties with Iraqi politicians and religious and business ...

  • How Trump’s Iraq visit sounded like a campaign rally

    How Trump’s Iraq visit sounded like a campaign rally

    Dec 27, 2018 11:45 PM EDT

    And the images of him signing "Making America Great" Hats in Iraq are good things for him. William Brangham: The president also in his comments to the troops said something that they had to have known wasn't true. And this was him talking about the pay raises they have ...

  • Iraqi lawmakers demand U.S. troops to withdraw after Trump visit

    Iraqi lawmakers demand U.S. troops to withdraw after Trump visit

    Dec 27, 2018 08:31 PM EDT

    ... arrangements, said Iraqi analyst Hamza Mustafa. Relations between the U.S. and Iraq also extend beyond military ties. U.S. companies have considerable interests in Iraq's petrochemical industry, and American diplomats are often brokers between Iraq's fractious political elite.Iraq's Sunni politicians have been largely quiet about ...

  • Trump is the third American president to visit Iraq

    Trump is the third American president to visit Iraq

    Dec 27, 2018 03:03 PM EDT

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump made an unannounced trip to Iraq on Wednesday to meet U.S. troops. It's the sixth time that a U.S. president has visited Iraq. A look at previous presidential visits to Iraq: BUSH In November 2003, President George W. Bush became the first U ...

  • Making first war-zone trip, Trump surprises U.S. troops in Iraq

    Making first war-zone trip, Trump surprises U.S. troops in Iraq

    Dec 26, 2018 11:55 PM EDT

    ... trip allowed him to reiterate his plans, while also vowing to keep troops in Iraq. About 5,200 U.S. service members are based in Iraq. They provide fire support, and train Iraqi troops, as well as supply intelligence and aerial surveillance. While Iraqi troops hunt ISIS fighters, the U ...

  • Trump's failure to meet with Iraqi officials during surprise visit prompts criticism

    Trump's failure to meet with Iraqi officials during surprise visit prompts criticism

    Dec 26, 2018 11:40 PM EDT

    ... of that. Nick Schifrin: Laith Kubba, very quickly, is the U.S. an important part of that? Does the U.S. need to stay in Iraq, as President Trump reiterated they would today? Laith Kubba: Well, I think we have all learned the hard way that, if you leave Iraq ...

  • Visiting troops in Iraq, Trump defends Syria withdrawal

    Visiting troops in Iraq, Trump defends Syria withdrawal

    Dec 26, 2018 08:38 PM EDT

    Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi recently said Iraqi troops could deploy into Syria to protect Iraq from threats across its borders. Iraq keeps reinforcements along its frontier to guard against infiltration by IS militants, who hold a pocket of territory along the Euphrates River. Trump campaigned for office on ...

  • Despite oil wealth, Iraq's Basra plagued by broken infrastructure, poverty and violence

    Despite oil wealth, Iraq's Basra plagued by broken infrastructure, poverty and violence

    Dec 25, 2018 11:45 PM EDT

    Hareth Mohammed: Yes, it's very dangerous. No -- not anyone can talk about that. Jane Ferguson: When the Sunni extremists of ISIS swept across Iraq in 2014, they easily overran the Iraqi army. Shia religious leaders called on young men to join militias, often funded by Iran, to fight against ...

  • Why Iraq's biblical paradise is becoming a salty wasteland

    Why Iraq's biblical paradise is becoming a salty wasteland

    Dec 20, 2018 11:30 PM EDT

    ... cycle of flow, biodiversity, floods, you know, this renewal of fertility of the soil. Jane Ferguson: Already, farmers are being driven from the land in Iraq. In the northern province of Nineveh, wheat farmers struggle to keep their crops alive in parched, dry earth. Farmer Sami Yessi says his wheat ...

  • After losing most of its control in Iraq, ISIS is starting to reemerge

    After losing most of its control in Iraq, ISIS is starting to reemerge

    Dec 02, 2018 10:26 PM EDT

    ... the Kurdish city of Suleimania. DLER GHAZI: The presence of ISIS in our area is because of the security vacuum between us, the government of Iraqi Kurdistan, and the government of Iraq. And in addition there’s a political crisis between us that has allowed such groups to spring up ...