• NBC's Brian Williams apologizes for false Iraq war story

    NBC's Brian Williams apologizes for false Iraq war story

    Feb 05, 2015 01:07 AM EDT

    Brian Williams, long-time anchor of NBC Nightly News, recanted on Wednesday a 12-year-old story that he was aboard a helicopter that was shot down by enemy fire during the Iraq War invasion in 2003. "I would not have chosen to make this mistake," Williams told Stars and ...

  • ‘American Sniper’ provokes debate on Iraq, depictions of war

    ‘American Sniper’ provokes debate on Iraq, depictions of war

    Jan 30, 2015 12:14 AM EDT

    ... in a way that I think does a profound disservice to the men who died over there, supposedly defending our freedom, as well as the Iraqi civilians, tens, if not hundreds of thousands, who died as consequences. The film presents the Iraq War as a natural outgrowth of the attack ...

  • Memories of Iraq before the violence

    Memories of Iraq before the violence

    Jan 22, 2015 06:06 PM EDT

    ... sectarian violence, and corruption, the country also endured the rapid rise and terrifying takeover of radical extremists across the North. We recently talked to three Iraqis living in America about these events. They spoke of their childhoods in Iraq, the U.S. invasion and its aftermath, the sectarian fighting that ...

  • What's behind the recent retreat of ISIS in Northern Iraq?

    What's behind the recent retreat of ISIS in Northern Iraq?

    Dec 20, 2014 10:11 PM EDT

    ... remember that again and again, we've been told it's going to take two to three years to create an effective combination of Kurdish, Iraqi, and Sunni Iraqi forces that could actually liberate the parts of Iraq occupied by the Islamic State. This is not a decisive victory. The ...

  • Two top Islamic State group leaders killed, more U.S. troops set to head into Iraq

    Two top Islamic State group leaders killed, more U.S. troops set to head into Iraq

    Dec 18, 2014 10:05 PM EDT

    ... Mosul. He said that while there has been progress in halting the militants' charge across Iraq, "I think what we must do, especially inside of Iraq, is continue to build those (Iraqi) capabilities. I think you're at least talking a minimum of three years." The Iraqi army wants to ...

  • Kurdish deputy prime minister urges U.S. leaders to remain engaged in Iraq

    Kurdish deputy prime minister urges U.S. leaders to remain engaged in Iraq

    Dec 11, 2014 01:32 AM EDT

    ... fighters, Iraqi government forces and Shiite militias battle to roll back Islamic State gains. The militants moved into Northern and Western Iraq in June, sending Iraqi troops fleeing. In August, U.S. warplanes joined the fray, targeting Islamic State units. Yesterday, on a visit by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Iraq ...

  • New gains seen as Iraqi army pushes back against Islamic State fighters

    New gains seen as Iraqi army pushes back against Islamic State fighters

    Nov 29, 2014 09:13 PM EDT

    ... very real problems with the Iraqi army -- the corruption, the lack of training, the siphoning off of money. There are very real problems with the Iraqi army that we don't want to downplay. But there is some thought that if we focus this new Iraqi army on this new ...

  • Photo essay: The burn pits of Iraq and Afghanistan

    Photo essay: The burn pits of Iraq and Afghanistan

    Nov 17, 2014 11:05 PM EDT

    During most of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military and its contractors disposed of garbage and everything else it did not want to ship back to the U.S. in open-air burn pits. There were at least 230 burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan according data from ...

  • Obama's plan to expand role in Iraq hinges on OK from Congress

    Obama's plan to expand role in Iraq hinges on OK from Congress

    Nov 08, 2014 05:39 PM EDT

    ... said the military will set up several sites across Iraq to train nine Iraqi Army brigades and three peshmerga brigades, which are made up of Iraqi Kurdish forces. The military will also establish two operations centers where small advisory teams can work with Iraqi forces at the headquarters and brigade ...

  • Obama authorizes 1,500 more troops in Iraq to fight Islamic State

    Obama authorizes 1,500 more troops in Iraq to fight Islamic State

    Nov 07, 2014 08:11 PM EDT

    ... assist Iraqi military and Kurdish forces fighting IS. White House press secretary Josh Earnest says Obama has also authorized the additional personnel to operate at Iraqi military facilities outside Baghdad and Erbil. Until now, U.S. troops have been operating a joint operation center setup with Iraqi forces there. The ...