Latest in Islamic State
The Islamic State funded its rise to power through oil smuggling and taxation, but now it's losing control of the resources and populations on which it has relied.
Representative Adam Schiff has revived his effort to get Congress to replace the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs with a new “Consolidated AUMF” that would explicitly name the Islamic State. What follows below is a section-by-section analysis of H.J. Res. 100, intended to highlight the key moving parts while also flagging a few issues that deserve further attention should the bill move forward.
Turkey arrests more political opponents and bombs Kurds in Iraq and Syria, the transnational drama of an Iraqi hostage crisis, and will or won’t the Saudis try to capture Hodeida?
Trump says the fight against the Islamic State could require new deployments, Iran announces candidates running against Rouhani, and the United States could be sinking into the quagmire in Yemen.
The Trump administration can’t agree on what its missile strike in Syria means, Christians have lost faith in Sisi’s promises to protect them, and a contender for the Libya envoy job offers an Ottoman-era proposal.
The next battle in Iraq will be fought at the negotiating table. Will the United States be ready to help?
The Trump administration makes clear how little they clear about human rights, U.S. officials continue to plan for the Raqqa offensive, and the United States’ shadiest mercenary may have been an intermediary for Trump and Russia.
The United States and other coalition partners need to find a way to work with Kurdish forces inside Syria while mitigating Turkish objections to the plan.
Charlie Winter takes an inside look at how the Islamic State approaches its propaganda strategy.
Turkey and Iran may have some shared interests in Syria now, but still have competing interests in the long run. U.S. policy will have to consider both regional powers.