What happened? On 16 October 2017, the Iraqi federal government launched an operation to restore Iraqi sovereignty over the disputed territories, including Kirkuk and its oil fields. This reversed the situation in place since the Iraqi army collapsed in the face of an onslaught by the Islamic State in June 2014. Why did it happen? The action was triggered by the indep
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Iraq Reborn: In an exclusive interview for Patrick Cockburn's new series on the resurgence of this key Middle Eastern nation, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi reveals how Baghdad will hammer home its twin victories over Isis and the northern Kurds Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is triumphant as he describes his country’s security forces driving out Isis from its last str
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To keep Iraq united and help minimize the divisive sectarianism that has characterized past elections, Washington and the UN need to push for dialogue on the KRG crisis. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi published an op-ed in the New York Times on Wednesday, denouncing the "illegal" referendum held by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq last month, but more im
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BAGHDAD — In June 2014, the cover of Time magazine echoed a sentiment common among pundits and outsiders: “The End of Iraq,” it read. I am proud to say that three years later, thanks to the Iraqi armed forces and the Iraqi people, these predictions were wrong. Since then, Iraq has steadily dealt defeats to the Islamic State, also known as Daesh, a vicious enemy that has threa
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In the coming days, Kirkuk will either explode into open fighting between Kurdish and Iraqi forces or spur a much-needed dialogue between Baghdad and Erbil. On October 12, the oil-rich Iraqi province of Kirkuk came very close to witnessing a major clash between two U.S.-armed militaries -- the federal Iraqi army and the forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The
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