Review Kevin McKiernan, The Kurds, A People in Search of Their Homeland, St. Martin’s Press, 2006

McKiernan, Kevin, The Kurds, A People in Search of Their Homeland, St. Martin’s Press, 2006

 

The Kurds, A People in Search of Their Homeland followed journalist Kevin McKiernan as he travelled through Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran from 1991-2005 meeting various Kurds. There’s history thrown in for background but most of it is about the friendships he formed and the events he witnessed.

Review Turkey, the US and Iraq

Hale, William, Turkey, the US and Iraq, London, Berkeley, Beirut: SAQI, 2007

 

Turkey, the US and Iraq by William Hale is a history of Turkish-Iraq relations and the role of the United States from the foundation of Iraq in 1920 to the start of the U.S. occupation. Hale believes the relations between Turkey and Iraq went through three main phases. First, Turkey laid claim to northern Iraq after World War I. Then the Kurds became a major issue in the 1980s. Finally the U.S. began demanding that Turkey help it with its conflict with Iraq starting with the Gulf War and then the 2003 invasion. In the process Turkey completely changed its policy towards Iraq, which is the main point of the book.

Iraq Saw Lowest Violence Ever March 2019

(Shafaaq News)

In March 2019 Iraq witnessed the lowest level of violence since the 2003 invasion. There were the fewest attacks every recorded by Musings On Iraq and casualties were extremely low as well especially because most were the results of two mass graves and a clash between the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Turkish soldiers in northern Kurdistan. The low level of activity by the Islamic State is likely due to two factors. First, the group carried out its traditional spring-summer offensive and reduced its attacks afterwards. Second, it appears that IS is holding back from carrying out more operations as it rebuilds.

Security In Iraq Mar 22-28, 2019

(Shafaaq News)

For the fourth week in a row incidents in Iraq were in the teens. That resulted in dramatically low casualties. This was the lowest level of violence ever recorded by Musings On Iraq.

Security In Iraq Mar 15-21, 2019

(Shafaaq News)

The Iraqi insurgency continues to ebb and flow. In February attacks were slightly up from January perhaps pointing to the Islamic State coming out of its winter hibernation. March however has seen some of the lowest incident figures ever recorded by Musings On Iraq. That happened during the third week of March although casualty numbers were up due to another mass grave of IS victims being found and a clash between the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Turkish soldiers in Kurdistan.

Slight Uptick In Islamic State Ops In Iraq As New Year Begins

(Iraqi News)

As the new year began the Islamic State began picking up its attacks in Iraq. During the last two months of 2018 security incidents dramatically dropped off as the group apparently pulled back during the winter. The rise in 2019 was due to renewed activity in Anbar, Kirkuk, and Salahaddin.

Security In Iraq Jan 22-28, 2019

(Shafaaq News)

The third week of January 2019 was another relatively quiet one in Iraq. There were few incidents, while casualties were up from the previous week.

Security In Iraq Jan 15-21, 2019

(Iraqi News)

Iraq was relatively quiet during the third week of January 2018. There were few incidents and few casualties. The Islamic State has been operating at a very low level since the winter. Turkey on the other hand continued with its weekly strikes against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Security In Iraq Jan 8-14, 2019

(Iraqi News)

The number of incidents remained at exactly the same level between the first and second weeks of January. The number of casualties took a large drop due to two things. There were two new mass graves uncovered of victims of the Islamic State, and there were two car bombs.

Security In Iraq, Jan 1-7, 2019

(Shafaaq News)

For over two months now violence has remained very low in Iraq. That’s because the Islamic State has largely packed up during the winter.

Islamic State Went Into Hibernation In Winter 2018

(Reuters)

Since the summer of 2018 incidents have declined in Iraq. That ended in December with the lowest number of security incidents ever recorded for a month by Musings On Iraq. The Islamic State largely retreated from Anbar, Baghdad and Salahaddin at the end of the year resulting in the low level of violence.

Review The Iran-Iraq War, Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts

Review Hooton, E.R., Cooper, Tom and Nadimi, Farzin, The Iran-Iraq War, Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts, West Midlands: Helion & Company Limited, 2018

The Iran-Iraq War, Volume 4: The Forgotten Fronts was the final volume in Helion’s series on the longest and bloodiest war of the 1980s. The first three books focused upon Basra and southern Iran, which was the main battlefield. The last volume is about the central and Kurdistan fronts, and the Kurdish and Iranian opposition parties. The center and north were largely used for screening or diversionary attacks, but was also where the war ended. The fighting also involved the struggle between various Kurdish groups that were often fighting each other as much as the Iranians or Iraqis. Volume 4 is a fitting conclusion to the series with a very in depth review of the war with plenty of pictures and maps.

Security In Iraq Dec 15-21, 2018

(Iraqi News)

For the fourth week in a row there has just been around 20 incidents in Iraq. This marks the lowest weekly totals since Musings On Iraq began tracking security in Iraq. It appears that the Islamic State is stepping back from carrying out attacks this winter.

Security In Iraq Dec 8-14, 2018

(Iraqi News)

Iraq reached another low in weekly security incidents from December 8-14, 2018. Since the last week of October the Islamic State has been far less active. Poor weather was one possible cause, but it also appears that the insurgents have cooled off on their own accord after a mini-summer campaign in the center of the country.

Security In Iraq Dec 1-7, 2018

Violence and casualties remained extremely low in Iraq during the first week of December 2018. While the insurgency has always ebbed and flowed the poor weather and heavy flooding continued, which probably put a major damper on the ability of the militants to carry out their operations.

Large Drop In Violence In Iraq November 2018

(Shafaaq News)

There was a large drop in reported incidents from October to November 2018. The number of incidents dropped roughly 30% between the two months. The number of casualties likewise went down as well. The bad weather which has caused flash flooding through much of northern and central Iraq might have played a role.

Security In Iraq Nov 22-28, 2018

(Shafaaq News)

Violence continued to decline across Iraq at the end of November. There were the fewest reported incidents in any week of the year during the fourth week of the month.  

Security In Iraq Nov 15-21, 2018

(Baghdad Post)

Security continues to fluctuate in Iraq. In October incidents went up, but in November they have been the lowest weekly totals of the year. Despite those low numbers the Islamic State continued its recent activities of kidnappings, attacking villages, and most importantly car bombings.

Security In Iraq Nov 8-14, 2018

(Shafaaq News)

Security remained relatively stable from the first to second week of November. There were around the same number of incidents and casualties as well. There was another car bomb, which showed the Islamic State’s return to mass casualty attacks. There was also a large number of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) members killed in Turkish air strikes.

Security In Iraq Nov 1-7, 2018

(Getty)

Since the fourth week of October 2018, incidents have been down in Iraq. That was true for the start of November. Despite the low number of attacks there was a car bomb in Salahaddin, which showed that the Islamic State was attempting more mass casualty bombings after a large dip during the summer.