Saddam Hussein

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.

Citizen pain: Part II

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into how the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 not only dismantled the government but destroyed an entire nation, forcing a mass exodus of certain ethnic and religious minorities.

Citizen pain: Part II
George H. W. Bush is shown with his hand on the bible nad right hand raised being sworn in as director of CIA.

Why we'll miss George H.W. Bush, America's last foreign policy president

Why we'll miss George H.W. Bush, America's last foreign policy president
A Shi’ite militiaman praying before the battle for Tikrit commenced on March 1, 2015.

Fear of atrocities rises as Iraq launches an operation to take Tikrit from ISIS

Fear of atrocities rises as Iraq launches an operation to take Tikrit from ISIS
Rebel recruitment: 2004, Sudan

Lynsey Addario: A life in nine photographs

Lynsey Addario: A life in nine photographs
Vehicles are seen on a street in Baghdad as the Iraqi government lifted a night-time curfew.  Officials hope to demonstrate that Baghdad no longer faces a threat from Islamic State.

Baghdad residents can stay out late and go big on Valentine's Day

Baghdad residents can stay out late and go big on Valentine's Day
Kemal Kerkuki, commanding officer of Peshmerga forces outside of Kirkuk, speaks with his troops.

The Kurdish Peshmerga helping the US take back territory from ISIS may be kicking out Arabs

While many in Iraq's north are happy that the Kurdish militias are taking territory back from ISIS, Iraq's Arabs in the north are also afraid about what it will mean for them. Some Kurdish Peshmerga fighters these days are declaring an end to cooperation with Arabs.

The Kurdish Peshmerga helping the US take back territory from ISIS may be kicking out Arabs
Rise of ISIS panel

ISIS may disappear much faster than you expect

ISIS is dominating the headlines, but how much do we really know about the brutal terrorist group? How did ISIS become a major force so quickly? You may be shocked to learn that their startling rise to power may be followed by a relatively quick fall from grace.

ISIS may disappear much faster than you expect
The view across the Kawar Gosk refugee camp for Syrian refugees in Northern Iraq.

Refugees who have escaped ISIS will soon have to battle winter weather

Refugees pouring into the makeshift camps in northern Iraq will soon face yet another disaster: winter. Temperatures are expected to fall below zero as winter approaches, and aid agencies are unable to cope with the massive number of needy Iraqis trying to escape ISIS.

Refugees who have escaped ISIS will soon have to battle winter weather
Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi, who was nominated by Iraq's president to replace Nouri al-Maliki.

It might take a miracle to get Iraq back on track

Sectarian discord in Iraq is mounting, and new prime minister Haider al-Abadi must convince Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds to keep working together in a united Iraq. He's Iraq's best hope, but even a change in leadership may not be enough.

It might take a miracle to get Iraq back on track
Kurdish men display weapons for sale at an arms market in Irbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

A Kurdish British lawmaker goes back to Iraq on a mission to boost support for the peshmerga

Nadhim Zahawi is a Kurd born in Iraq, but he represents Stratford-on-Avon in the British Parliament. He recently returned home to northern Iraq to see what the British government could do to help in the current crisis.

A Kurdish British lawmaker goes back to Iraq on a mission to boost support for the peshmerga
Female fighters from Colonel Nahida's peshmerga battalion view the front lines with ISIS.

Meet the female colonel leading Kurdish forces into battle against ISIS

Nahida Ahmed Rashid began her military career years ago, fighting for the Kurdish separatist cause. Now she's the highest-ranking woman in the Kurdish peshmerga and squaring off with her troops against Islamic militants who've taken northern Iraq by storm.

Meet the female colonel leading Kurdish forces into battle against ISIS
A member of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) takes his position during a patrol looking for militants of the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), in a neighborhood in Ramadi, July 23, 2014.

Iraq is in serious trouble. Here's how it got there

Frontline's new documentary "Losing Iraq" retraces the missteps the US government made in Iraq — and the deadly results of those poor decisions.

Iraq is in serious trouble. Here's how it got there
Iraqi parliament

If you think the US Congress is deadlocked, just look at Iraq's Parliament

Iraq's Parliament has been able to decide on just one thing in the past few days — and that's to meet at a later time. Politicians haven't been able to choose a speaker or other key positions to form a new government. A former Iraqi government spokesperson says its the worst dysfunction since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

If you think the US Congress is deadlocked, just look at Iraq's Parliament
Where the Iraqi Gov’t saw Iraqi needs and areas for foreign investment in 2013

These maps show how foreign investment has helped fuel Iraq's Sunni-Shia divide

One of the big sticking points between the Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq is where the money has been spent over the last several years. We've pulled the data and mapped out where the international development projects are located.

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.

Iraqis are feeling increasingly desperate with nowhere to turn

There's a sense of despair among Iraqis, that their country will be able to get itself on track. But they're not clamoring for international intervention either.

Iraqis are feeling increasingly desperate with nowhere to turn