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Politics of Iraq

President George W. Bush declares the end of major combat in Iraq as he speaks aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the California coast. But the war dragged on for many years after that.
Critical State
Citizen pain: Part II
American Village entrance gates on the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq, the Kurdish defacto capital.
Military
Kurds grapple with US troop drawdown in Iraq
Iraqis put up a poster announcing the upcoming visit of Pope Francis and a meeting with a revered Shiite Muslim leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, right, in Najaf, Iraq, March 4, 2021.
Sacred Nation
Pope Francis’ historic trip to Iraq embraced by many as a welcome boost
University students hold banners as they gather during ongoing anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 6, 2020. 
Protest
Analysis: Iraqi protesters will likely push forward despite violence
Iraqi men work on the campaign posters of candidates ahead of May's parliamentary election, in Baghdad, Iraq, April 14, 2018.
Global Politics
Young Iraqis have reason to be disillusioned with politics. Instead, many are backing a new generation of leaders.
Displaced Iraqi children at the Amriyat al-Fallujah camp in Anbar Province, Iraq, Jan. 3, 2018.
Conflict
Iraq accused of forcibly returning displaced civilians from camps to unsafe areas
Captives suspected of being Islamic State militants are seen southwest of Kirkuk, Iraq.
Conflict
Nearly a thousand ISIS fighters choose surrender, not martyrdom, in Iraq
President Obama announces complete withdrawal from Iraq by year’s end
Violence returns to Iraq as America plans withdrawal
An Iraqi soldier carries a displaced child from Ramadi on the outskirts of Baghdad on May 19, 2015.
Conflict
As ISIS seeks revenge in Ramadi, a US veteran fears for his Sunni allies there
Islamic State has expanded its propaganda program into English language radio
Conflict
Thanks for listening to ISIS radio in English
Major General Qassem Suleimani, who heads the Quds Brigade in Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
Conflict
Meet the most powerful man in the Middle East you’ve probably never heard of
Peshmerga on patrol
Conflict
American veterans choose to head back to Iraq to fight against ISIS
Shiite fighters fire a rocket during clashes with ISIS militants in Iraq's Salahuddin province on March 1, 2015. Thousands of Iraqi soldiers and Shiite militiamen sought to seal off ISIS in Tikrit and nearby towns.
Conflict
The US is sitting out Iraq’s big battle in Tikrit — but Iran isn’t
A Shi’ite militiaman praying before the battle for Tikrit commenced on March 1, 2015.
Conflict
Fear of atrocities rises as Iraq launches an operation to take Tikrit from ISIS
A fighter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) holds a weapon while another holds a flag in the city of Mosul, shortly after the Islamic State captured the city. The flag reads, "There is no God but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.
Conflict
The so-called Islamic State is even worse than you thought
Kemal Kerkuki, commanding officer of Peshmerga forces outside of Kirkuk, speaks with his troops.
Global Politics
The Kurdish Peshmerga helping the US take back territory from ISIS may be kicking out Arabs
Conflict
Film traces how Nouri al-Maliki’s treatment of Iraqi Sunnis helped ISIS get stronger
A view of the oil refinery in Baiji, Iraq, taken in 2007, when it was operational. The refinery has been shut down since June 2014.
Conflict
The US has intervened to help Iraq hold its most important oil facility
A demonstrator holds a banner with a picture of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr during a protest against the entry of American troops into Iraq on September 26, 2014. The words on the banner read "No No America."
Conflict
A militant Iraqi cleric wants to fight ISIS without US help, and he’s far from alone
A Kurdish fighter shows off his new weapons outside the gun bazaar. Behind him is the prison that sits next to the market.
Conflict
Kurdish soldiers are paying for their weapons out of their own pockets
Iraq's Shi'ite militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq
Conflict
Iraq has a new prime minister, but its powerful militias might not care
Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi, who was nominated by Iraq's president to replace Nouri al-Maliki.
Conflict
It might take a miracle to get Iraq back on track
Fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, stand in formation in northern Iraq on May 14, 2013.
Conflict
The US named this Kurdish party a terrorist group — now it needs its help to fight ISIS
Kurdish men display weapons for sale at an arms market in Irbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
Conflict
A Kurdish British lawmaker goes back to Iraq on a mission to boost support for the peshmerga
Azadi
Belief
Tour the American city where Kurdish sounds and flavors thrive
People with portraits of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rally in support of him in Baghdad on August 11, 2014.
Conflict
The fight against ISIS takes a back seat to squabbles in Baghdad
A Kurdish resident holds a signs during a demonstration in support of peshmerga troops in front of the US consulate in Erbil, Iraq.
Conflict
War, politics and humanitarian disasters give Iraq a perfect storm of crises
A Kurdish resident holds a signs during a demonstration in support of peshmerga troops in front of the US consulate in Erbil, Iraq.
Conflict
War, politics and humanitarian disasters give Iraq a perfect storm of crises
Female fighters from Colonel Nahida's peshmerga battalion view the front lines with ISIS.
Conflict
Meet the female colonel leading Kurdish forces into battle against ISIS
Female fighters from Colonel Nahida's peshmerga battalion view the front lines with ISIS.
Conflict
Meet the female colonel leading Kurdish forces into battle against ISIS
Displaced families from the minority Yazidi sect flee violence in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar. Iraq's Prime Minister, Nuri al-Malik, ordered his air force for the first time to back Kurdish forces against Islamic State fighters after the Sunni milit
Conflict
The battle against ISIS leads to odd alliances in Iraq
Displaced families from the minority Yazidi sect flee violence in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar. Iraq's Prime Minister, Nuri al-Malik, ordered his air force for the first time to back Kurdish forces against Islamic State fighters after the Sunni milit
Conflict
The battle against ISIS leads to odd alliances in Iraq
Conflict & Justice
In Kurdish Iraq, the fight against ISIS isn’t just for men
Conflict & Justice
In Kurdish Iraq, the fight against ISIS isn’t just for men
Burnt vehicles belonging to the Iraqi security forces are seen on a road leading to Samarra at Salahuddin province July 12, 2014.
Global Politics
The seeds of Iraq’s failed democracy were sown early on
Iraqi parliament
Global Politics
If you think the US Congress is deadlocked, just look at Iraq’s Parliament
Shiite shrine
Global Politics
On the 4th of July, one Iraq scholar reflects on a country still struggling to find peace
Shi'ite volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), hold a sign during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf, that re
Global Politics
Is US help for Iraq too little, too late?
Shi'ite volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from the radical Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), hold a sign during a graduation ceremony after completing their field training in Najaf, that re
Global Politics
Is US help for Iraq too little, too late?
Nabih Bulos
Conflict & Justice
Your questions answered: What is going on in Iraq?
Conflict & Justice
The Kurds push for independence from Iraq, yet again
Iraqi Christians
Lifestyle & Belief
As sectarian divisions roar, Iraq is remembered as being defined by its diversity
Smoke rises from a oil refinery in Baiji, north of Baghdad, in this picture taken through the windscreen of a car, June 19, 2014. Iraqi government forces battled Sunni rebels for control of the country's biggest refinery on Thursday as Prime Minister Nuri
Conflict & Justice
The battle is on for one of Iraq’s major oil refineries
Maliki
Conflict & Justice
How does Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s political party view what’s happening in Iraq?
Blake Hall (left) in Iraq 2006/7
Conflict & Justice
‘It’s heartbreaking’ — A veteran reflects on the crisis in Iraq
Volunteers who have joined the Iraqi Army to fight against predominantly Sunni militants carry weapons during a parade in the streets in Al-Fdhiliya district, eastern Baghdad.
Conflict & Justice
Baghdad neighbors look at one another intently these days, searching for clues
Where the Iraqi Gov’t saw Iraqi needs and areas for foreign investment in 2013
Business, Economics and Jobs
These maps show how foreign investment has helped fuel Iraq’s Sunni-Shia divide
A boy who fled from the violence in Mosul sits outside a tent at a camp on the outskirts of Erbil in Iraq's Kurdistan region.
Conflict & Justice
Iraqis are feeling increasingly desperate with nowhere to turn
Members of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces take part in an intensive security deployment in Baghdad's Amiriya district, June 18, 2014.
Conflict & Justice
The fight against ISIS in Iraq is just beginning
Members of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces take part in an intensive security deployment in Baghdad's Amiriya district, June 18, 2014.
Conflict & Justice
The fight against ISIS in Iraq is just beginning
Volunteers have joined the Iraqi security forces to fight against the predominantly Sunni militants from a radical Islamic group (ISIL) who've taken over parts of northern Iraq.
Conflict & Justice
Iraq is ‘back where it was’ at height of the civil war
Global Politics
Iraq threatens to make the Middle East into a vast terrorist training ground
Conflict & Justice
Sunni Muslims in Iraq are caught between violent militants and violent government troops
Iraq
Conflict & Justice
Iraq War veterans think their sacrifice has gone down the drain
Fighters from ISIS on a vehicle in the Iraqi city of Tikrit, which the Sunni jihadi group overran on Wednesday, closing in on the biggest oil refinery in the country and making further gains in their rapid military advance against the Shi'ite-led governme
Conflict & Justice
Who are the jihadi extremists storming through Iraq — and what do they want?
Fighters from ISIS on a vehicle in the Iraqi city of Tikrit, which the Sunni jihadi group overran on Wednesday, closing in on the biggest oil refinery in the country and making further gains in their rapid military advance against the Shi'ite-led governme
Conflict & Justice
Who are the jihadi extremists storming through Iraq — and what do they want?
Families fleeing violence in northern wait at a checkpoint on the edge of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.  Half-a-million people are believed to have fled the city of Mosul in 24 hours.
Conflict & Justice
Why Iraq may be headed for an all-out sectarian war
Iraq marshland
Environment
This Iraq war veteran goes back to Iraq on a different mission: to save the wetlands
Families fleeing the violence in Mosul wait at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Arbil, in Iraq's Kurdistan region on June 10, 2014. Radical Sunni Muslim insurgents seized control of most of Iraq's second largest city of Mosul early on Tuesday, overrunning
Conflict & Justice
Islamic militants have taken over Iraq’s second-largest city