The US promised to "gradually reduce" its presence in Iraq in February after Baghdad declared victory over Daesh (ISIS)* last December, but has declined to withdraw its contingent from the country. In August, the US-led coalition said the estimated 5,200 US troops in Iraq would stay in the country "as long as needed." [...]

If the pain of birth is the price of life, Syria’s birth as a truly independent nation has come at the price of eight years of brutal and merciless struggle. As with the Vietnamese people, so with the Syrians. Their struggle against imperialism and hegemony has earned them a place at history’s table that can never be relinquished. Because, if you penetrate beyond the obfuscations peddled by We [...]

Israel controls America, and Israel wants all the Middle East as a 'Greater Israel'. That's what it's all about. Why are the US and Israel so friendly anyway? That's a hugely controversial question. Though American support for Israel really is massive, including billions of dollars in aid and reliable diplomatic backing, experts disagree sharply on why. Some possibilities include deep support for [...]

Mosul’s one-time economic center, the Old City, now bears a closer resemblance to a mass cemetery. A few meters from the al-Nuri mosque’s destroyed minaret, Mohammed Qadir, who is internally displaced, visits his former house. [...]

RT’s special reports about the humanitarian crisis in the Iraqi city of Mosul has netted the network its sixth International Emmy Awards nomination, earning recognition for a story that went largely ignored in western media. The finalists for the Emmy in the News category, announced on Monday, included RT’s #MosulSOS, a series of reports and a social media campaign aimed at highlighting the pl [...]

US hypocrisy over its self-righteous military attack on Syria over a recent alleged use of not-yet-verified chemical weapons in Douma raises the question: Is gassing bad, but OK for some countries? The reason for asking is the rush to judgment by the United States, Britain and France to bomb selected military locations in Syria, which these countries claim research and develop, manufacture and sto [...]

The 2003 US invasion of Iraq had devastating consequences not only Iraq itself, but for the region as a whole. Speaking to Sputnik, Iranian political scientist and diplomat Seyed Hadi Afghani recalled how the US invasion undermined the security of Iraq's eastern neighbor, and set the stage for the rise of Daesh.* [...]

More than half a year after being liberated, Mosul's battle wounds still fester. Entire districts lie in ruins with bodies scattered in the streets, and locals say they have yet to see the aid they were promised. [...]

This is how an EU-funded group of arms experts went to Iraq and Syria to explore Islamic State’s well-oiled manufacturing machine, only to find that the US routinely violated arms control clauses. [...]

It’s a nightmare: civilian deaths in Syria and Iraq in the ongoing war against Daesh are rising faster than local officials, and remote military intelligence gathering, can count, and the US-led coalition seems unwilling to do anything about it. [...]

The Iraqi army and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), not the US, should take the credit for the recent liberation of Mosul from the Daesh terrorist group, Iraqi Vice-President Nouri al-Maliki said on Friday. [...]

A new Operation Inherent Resolve report has upped the official civilian death toll of the US-led aerial bombing campaign in Syria and Iraq by more than a third, confirming 484 civilian deaths – while activists claim the figure is several times higher. [...]

The humanitarian plight of war-torn Mosul has “escalated to the limit,” with the Iraqi president comparing it to a “full-on catastrophe,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said. “It’s time to toll the alarm bells,” the official added.   [...]

The months leading up to the war in Iraq, unleashed on 20 March 2003, saw the very best of humanity engaged in a struggle with the very worst for the right to shape the future. When it comes to the very best of humanity, we are talking an anti-war movement that for a brief moment grew so large, powerful and determined that the New York Times described it as a second superpower on its front page [...]

The number of civilian casualties from airstrikes by the US-led coalition in the Iraqi city of Mosul exceeds the numbers reported by the media during the operation to retake Aleppo by Syrian and Russian forces, the London-based Airwars monitoring group has said. [...]

The Iraq parliament want measures to be taken in response to President Trump’s executive order banning entry to the US to citizens of seven Muslim countries. Iraqis consider the measure “unfair,” and a panel has asked the government to “reciprocate.” [...]

French and Iraqi forces have uncovered a mustard agent and missiles in an area formerly controlled by Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) during a sweep of eastern Mosul. The mustard agent was found in an abandoned storage area near the historic Nineveh ruins, AP reported, hoping to avoid attracting attention from locals [...]

A report released in London earlier this month concluded that the 2003 decision by the US and Britain to invade Iraq was based on flawed intelligence data and assessments as Saddam Husseim posed no threat and did not possess any weapons of mass destruction. [...]

"I will be with you, whatever," former British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledged to U.S. President George Bush on July 28, 2002. That vow was made public Tuesday in the damning Chilcot Inquiry, underscoring the investigation's conclusion: The invasion of Iraq was decided on well before all peaceful resolutions were exhausted, proving—as critics have long-contended—that the disastrous intervent [...]

It would be good to see that on the basis of the Chilcot report Tony Blair could potentially face prosecution for war crimes, Anne Machon, former British intelligence officer told RT. Other experts also weighed in with their opinions. [...]

There 'has to be a judicial or political reckoning' for Blair's role in Iraq War, one critic charges. Ahead of Wednesday's release of the long-awaited UK government inquiry into the Iraq War—which took a full seven years to complete—many anti-war critics are demanding that Tony Blair and other prominent officials finally face justice for the disastrous decision to invade Iraq in 2003. [...]

Former PM Tony Blair will respond to the Chilcot report on the legality of the 2003 Iraq invasion by arguing the Middle East state was devastated by Iran, Al-Qaeda and a powder keg of tribal animosity unleashed by Saddam’s removal, reports suggest. He is expected to defend the war while trying to externalize the continuing bloodshed, but not before the Chilcot Inquiry reports on July 6. [...]