Salem-News.com Iraq articles Page 3

Iraq Now Open to U.S Airstrikes Against ISIS Jihadists

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, which wants to establish an Islamic caliphate, or state, in the region.

(BAGHDAD, Iraq) - As radical Islamist militants surged through Iraq -- and threatened its capital -- U.S. President Barack Obama conceded the turbulent situation demanded significant assistance immediately and over the long-term for the Baghdad-based central government.

"It's going to need more help from us, and it's going to need more help from the international community," Obama said Thursday.

Iraq in State of Emergency After Militants Take Over Mosul

About 150,000 people are believed to have fled the city.

(MOSUL, Iraq) - Iraq's prime minister has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency after Islamist militants effectively took control of Mosul.

Nouri Maliki acknowledged "vital areas" of the country's second largest city had been seized. Overnight, hundreds of armed men seized local government's offices and police stations before taking control of the airport and the army's headquarters.

Hundreds of Students, Staff Held Hostage as Gunmen Storm Iraqi University

The incident is now over and the hostages have been released, and the gunmen have run-off.

(RAMADI, Iraq) - After fighting their way past the guards, the militants managed to break into Anbar University in the provincial capital Ramadi overnight and planted bombs behind them to prevent security forces from advancing.

Security forces surrounded the university and exchanged fire with militants patrolling the rooftops with sniper rifles. Sources in Ramadi hospital said they had received the bodies of two people, one of them a student and the other a policeman.

``US seeks to destabilize Muslim nations`` (VIDEO)

Press TV has interviewed Tim King, editor of Salem-news.com to discuss the situation of Iraq since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

(TEHRAN / SALEM) - Press TV: Now, we are seeing a lot of bloodshed. This month alone, over 500 casualties, deaths that is, as a result of terrorist attacks on Iraqi soil. How do you see terrorism basically, impeding Iraq’s progress towards democracy?

King: Well, I don’t think we even really know what the source of this terrorism is. You know, the new movie by Jeremy Scahill called Dirty Wars that details the US Joint Special Operation Command’s (JSOC) ventures all over the world over the last few years makes me wonder if this is even a Sunni versus Shia matter.

You Want the Truth? You Don`t Deserve the Truth, According to Mainstream Media

We have spent $20 billion pouring weapons and arms into propping up the Malaki government in Iraq which is more than 5 times the amount dedicated to finding a cure for cancer. Make sense? Did you know this?

(JAMESTOWN, RI) - One of the most significant changes in the US in recent times is our inability to see things from another perspective. Take the Ukraine and Crimea.

John Kerry and Obama repeatedly warned Russia about “respecting international law, the integrity and sovereignty of the Ukraine” but not one outlet reminded us of our clear violation of international law and lack of respect for the sovereignty of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Baghdad Central

Center-staging the calamities of collaboration, Elliott Colla’s noir thriller exposes the moral and strategic failures of military occupation.

(JERUSALEM) - Without networks of collaborators conscripted from among the ranks of the insurgency, sustained military occupations are unthinkable. Yet, no one likes to talk about collaborators—it is an unpleasant subject because collaborators are about as loved by their handlers as they are by the communities they betray.

To be sure, collaborators under military occupation consider themselves as a beneficial screen, ameliorating the worst that might happen, and at times they even embrace the new order and think of themselves as brave emissaries of the future.

LaVena Johnson: Army Still Calls Grisly Rape and Murder `Suicide`

LaVena's father had to seek Congressional intervention just to receive the details of the death investigation.

(SALEM) - "My daughter was raped, beaten, murdered, set on fire, then they tried to burn the tent down with her body in it." John Johnson, father of LaVena, should never have had to say those words. His daughter suffered greatly before dying.

But the army called it a suicide.

Iraq Vets` Amazing Cross Country Trek to California

Both Voss and Anderson served in the Army, and both have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

(LOS ANGELES) - Two Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veterans have followed the footsteps of a small handful of veterans who have ‘taken to the open road’ to raise money for respective veterans organizations and to help people understand the scores of issues that plague veterans as they try to readjust to life back home.

Tom Voss (29) and Anthony Anderson (30) donned their hiking boots and headed west from Wisconsin on a 2700-mile journey that would take them to California’s Santa Monica Pier.

Iraqi Government Threatens Action Against Kurds as Oil Exports Set to Begin

The conflict escalated when Baghdad followed through on Maliki's threat.

(LONDON OilPrices.com) - Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs firmly stated the central government will take action, "including fiscal measures," if Kurdistan begins exporting oil without coming to an agreement with Baghdad.

The remarks came as Minister Hussain al-Shahristani spoke at a conference in London on January 28.

An Open Letter to Soldiers with `Mental Health` Issues

You stand at the fork of two paths...

(TASMANIA, Aust.) - Are you a soldier or veteran who is supposed to have a 'mental health' issue such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia or PTSD? If you are, then I have some suggestions for you to consider.

My first suggestion is that you ignore any label that you have been given. For example, the term 'post-traumatic stress disorder' (PTSD) is an inaccurate and unhelpful way of labelling the appropriate, diverse and complex emotional responses that a normal human being will have to emotionally disturbing events of the type that are experienced during war.