• U.S. officials concerned about Iraq's 'will to fight' after Ramadi

    U.S. officials concerned about Iraq's 'will to fight' after Ramadi

    May 24, 2015 03:41 PM EDT

    ... Ramadi in central Iraq a week ago, which has revived concerns about U.S. efforts to fight the group. The Obama administration's approach in Iraq is a blend of retraining and rebuilding the Iraqi army, prodding the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad to reconcile with the nation's Sunnis ...

  • What's life like in the areas of Syria and Iraq recently captured by ISIS?

    What's life like in the areas of Syria and Iraq recently captured by ISIS?

    May 23, 2015 09:38 PM EDT

    ... HARI SREENIVASAN, PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND ANCHOR: Returning to Iraq and Syria and ISIS gains in the region, I’m joined now from Baghdad via Skype, Washington Post reporter Loveday Morris. So, let’s start in Palmyra. It gets a lot of press because it’s a U.N. World ...

  • Islamic State expands territory in Syria, Iraq and Libya

    Islamic State expands territory in Syria, Iraq and Libya

    May 21, 2015 11:35 PM EDT

    ... GWEN IFILL: But the seizure of Palmyra does mean that ISIS now controls even more Syrian territory. And hundreds of miles to the east, in Iraq, the militants today followed up their capture of Ramadi by overrunning Iraqi military positions east of the city. The group also scored gains in ...

  • After losing Ramadi, Iraq calls on Shiite militias to fight Islamic State

    After losing Ramadi, Iraq calls on Shiite militias to fight Islamic State

    May 18, 2015 11:42 PM EDT

    ... the same fate as Tikrit. It will be liberated from the grasp of the extremist terrorists and victory in the end will be for the Iraqi people and the Iraqi state. GWEN IFILL: And Iran's defense minister flew to Baghdad for talks with the Iraqi army chief of staff ...

  • Key Iraqi city of Ramadi falls to ISIS after security forces pull out

    Key Iraqi city of Ramadi falls to ISIS after security forces pull out

    May 17, 2015 09:17 PM EDT

    ... major Iraqi city in the hands of Islamic State. It already controls Mosul, Iraq's second largest city. And now Ramadi is the capital of Iraq's largest province. It's also a huge setback for the government campaign launched last month to reclaim Anbar province, which is really Iraq ...

  • Iraq War judged a mistake by White House hopefuls

    Iraq War judged a mistake by White House hopefuls

    May 17, 2015 05:58 PM EDT

    ... he finished withdrawing U.S. troops in December 2011, Obama predicted a stable, self-reliant Iraqi government would take hold. Instead, turmoil and terrorism overtook Iraq and American leaders and would-be presidents are struggling with what to do next. The U.S. now has 3,040 troops in Iraq ...

  • Emma Sky's remarkable rise in Iraq, in a virtually all-male sea of military men

    Emma Sky's remarkable rise in Iraq, in a virtually all-male sea of military men

    May 07, 2015 10:37 PM EDT

    ... did bluntly challenge their preconceptions about the political aspects of the military task they faced, trying to resolve the civil and ethnic strife into which Iraq had descended. Yet she insists, “when you look at Iraq, there were many amazing women.” Above all, she notes the Iraqi civilian women who ...

  • Author Emma Sky on the fateful mistakes made after the Iraq invasion

    Author Emma Sky on the fateful mistakes made after the Iraq invasion

    May 07, 2015 10:30 PM EDT

    ... Iraq's present is really very grim. You have got Islamic State controlling a third of the country. For all of us who served in Iraq year after year after year, it's really hard. And I think the only way is to maintain hope, is to look at Iraq ...

  • Shia militias answer the call to fight Islamic State in Iraq

    Shia militias answer the call to fight Islamic State in Iraq

    May 04, 2015 11:58 PM EDT

    ... the best mechanism in the world." When the I.S. group, known here as Da'esh, took over Mosul last year, entire divisions of the Iraqi army collapsed. The Iraqi government turned to Iran and Iraqi citizens for help. There are at least four other training centers like this in ...

  • High-level insurgent leader reported killed in Iraq

    High-level insurgent leader reported killed in Iraq

    Apr 17, 2015 10:46 PM EDT

    ... JUDY WOODRUFF: It was a deadly day in Iraq. A series of bombs ripped through Baghdad, targeting public places and killing at least 40 people. Farther north, in Irbil, a car bomb exploded outside the U.S. Consulate, killing at least three and wounding five. In Ramadi, military forces ...