• U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State group begin in Iraq

    U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State group begin in Iraq

    Mar 25, 2015 08:16 PM EST

    ... city of Tikrit, a U.S. official said Wednesday. That raises highly sensitive questions about participating in an Iraqi campaign that has been spearheaded by Iraqi Shiite militias trained and equipped by Iran, an avowed U.S. adversary. The U.S. official was not authorized to discuss the Iraqi request ...

  • CIA director: Iranian general 'complicating' US efforts in Iraq

    CIA director: Iranian general 'complicating' US efforts in Iraq

    Mar 22, 2015 09:07 PM EST

    ... them play that role," the CIA chief said. "I think they're working with the Iraqis to play that role. We're working with the Iraqis, as well." Brennan said the Iraqis themselves, not the pullout of U.S. troops, are responsible for the country's insecurity. Iraqi security forces ...

  • Will the U.S. release photos of detainee treatment in Iraq and Afghanistan?

    Will the U.S. release photos of detainee treatment in Iraq and Afghanistan?

    Mar 22, 2015 07:05 PM EST

    ... HARI SREENIVASAN: The Pentagon has two months to decide how to respond to a court ruling ordering it to release photographs documenting the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. Government officials warn that making the photos public could inflame tensions in the already very volatile Middle East. For ...

  • Judge: U.S. must release photos of detainee abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan

    Judge: U.S. must release photos of detainee abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan

    Mar 21, 2015 06:15 PM EST

    A federal judge ruled on Friday that the government must release photographs that depict abuse of detainees by American military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan. "The photos are crucial to the public record," American Civil Liberties Union Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer said in a statement. "They're the best ...

  • Former U.S. soldier joins militia to defend Christian faith in Iraq

    Former U.S. soldier joins militia to defend Christian faith in Iraq

    Mar 21, 2015 03:00 PM EST

    ... to help protect cities. It’s just a different mission this time. It is. MARTIN HIMEL: Perhaps his greatest goal is to protect Christianity in Iraq. Brett is a religious Catholic. Last August, the 28-year-old interrupted his studies and traveled to northern Iraq where he joined the Assyrian ...

  • Battle for Tikrit: What happens if Iraqi forces retake city from Islamic State?

    Battle for Tikrit: What happens if Iraqi forces retake city from Islamic State?

    Mar 14, 2015 09:20 PM EST

    ... HARI SREENIVASAN, PBS NEWSHOUR ANCHOR: This week could be a turning point in Iraq's fight against ISIS militants. Shia militia members have joined Iraqi forces to take back Tikrit. If they succeed, it would be the first time pro-government forces beat back ISIS to recover a major Iraqi ...

  • Tikrit is ‘huge test’ for Iraq’s fight against Islamic State

    Tikrit is ‘huge test’ for Iraq’s fight against Islamic State

    Mar 12, 2015 11:35 PM EST

    ... GWEN IFILL: In Iraq, there was more heavy fighting in Tikrit today, as Iraqi forces and militias moved in on the Islamic State group. Elsewhere, the Iraqi military reports that several Iraqi soldiers were killed in a friendly-fire incident involving an aircraft from the U.S.-led coalition ...

  • What's behind the growing rift between Iraq and U.S. forces in the fight against Islamic State?

    What's behind the growing rift between Iraq and U.S. forces in the fight against Islamic State?

    Mar 08, 2015 08:34 PM EST

    ... HARI SREENIVASAN: Iraqi forces have been making significant headway against ISIS in the last few days, pushing extremist fighters back out of some of the territory they seized last year. Anne Barnard has been reporting for The New York Times on the fighting and the rising political tension. She ...

  • U.S. allies raise concern about Iran’s involvement in Iraq

    U.S. allies raise concern about Iran’s involvement in Iraq

    Mar 07, 2015 12:36 AM EST

    ... The biggest offensive yet to push back Islamic State militants is raging around Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, 110 miles north of Baghdad. As Iraqi forces draw closer to the city, they're helped not by the U.S., but by Iraqi Shiite militias with Iranian backing. Militia forces ...

  • Islamic State group destroys ancient site of Nimrud in northern Iraq

    Islamic State group destroys ancient site of Nimrud in northern Iraq

    Mar 06, 2015 06:41 PM EST

    ... cultural cleansing” that amounted to a “war crime.” It was the militant group’s latest assault on the ancient heritage of their conquered territories in Iraq and Syria, after smashing thousands of statues and torching the library in Mosul last month. The Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the ...