Iraq – Blazingcatfur

Israel-Iran strikes: What are the worst-case scenarios?

For now the fighting between Israel and Iran seems restricted to the two nations. At the United Nations and elsewhere there have been widespread calls for restraint.

But what if they fall on deaf ears? What if the fighting escalates and expands?

Here are just a few possible, worst-case scenarios.

Gazans …

Here are Gazans celebrating in the street as Iran attacks Israel.

Hang on, I thought these people were too busy suffering a “genocide”? And had no energy since they were starving?

I have no sympathy for these people at all. pic.twitter.com/hKQQ8GIhS6

— Chris Rose (@ArchRose90) June 13, 2025

Another nut bar! h/t Auntie Polley

“Palesteen”. @fancypants_s https://t.co/qZ041A71kZ

— Auntie Polly (@auntie_polly) June 14, 2025

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by Blazingcatfur•June 14, 2025June 15, 2025•0•"Oct 7 2023", Iraq

Hearts and Minds: All that blood and treasure wasted in IRAQ is now so worth it!

Passage of harsh anti-LGBTQ+ law in Iraq draws diplomatic backlash

BAGHDAD (AP) — Human rights groups and diplomats criticized a law that was quietly passed by the Iraqi parliament over the weekend that would impose heavy prison sentences on gay and transgender people.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that the law passed Saturday “threatens those most at risk in Iraqi society” and “can be used to hamper free-speech and expression.” He warned that the legislation could drive away foreign investment.

“International business coalitions have already indicated that such discrimination in Iraq will harm business and economic growth in the country,” the statement said.

When will they learn? Islam gonna Islam.

by Blazingcatfur•April 28, 2024April 28, 2024•0•"Islamophobia", Iraq, Islam and homosexuality

Military whistleblower calls on Conservatives to demand probe of torture video reports

The former soldier who blew the whistle on alleged torture videos involving Iraqi security forces who were trained by Canadian troops has made a direct appeal to Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre.

In a letter, retired sergeant Mike MacInnis called on the Conservatives to push for a follow-up investigation into how the military handled his warnings.

He said his efforts to get the attention of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence have led nowhere.

by Blazingcatfur•January 4, 2024January 4, 2024•0•Canada, Iraq

Turkey: The Abandoned Iraqi and Syrian Christian Asylum Seekers

The Christians of Iraq and Syria have for decades suffered from persecution and instability caused by oppression by the Ba’ath regimes, the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the outbreak of Sunni-Shiite fighting in 2006, al-Qaeda terrorism, the 2014 genocide by ISIS, ongoing Turkish airstrikes on Iraq and Syria, and in many cases, pressures and harassment at the hands of their Muslim neighbors. All this persecution has forced many of them to leave their home countries and seek asylum elsewhere.

by Blazingcatfur•April 21, 2023April 21, 2023•0•Christian Persecution, Iraq, Syria, Turkey

Two Decades Later, the War in Iraq Is Over—Right?

There’s no vital U.S. interest served by this indefinite advise-and-assist mission in the region.

Two decades ago, the war in Iraq began. The regime change mission was “accomplished” in a matter of weeks. Then, after that initial steroid high wore off, the limits of American military might started to show.

The U.S. occupation produced one tragic debacle after another. Public judgment of the war’s proponents moved from “convincing” to “mistaken” to “deceptive” to “deplorable.” Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died, and millions more endured needless suffering. Baghdad did not emerge as a shining city on a hill. Once enthusiastic about the invasion, the American people first stopped delighting in the project and then, unless forced to attention by some discrete new horror like the rise of the Islamic State (IS) group, stopped looking at all.

by Blazingcatfur•March 21, 2023March 20, 2023•0•Iraq, Iraq war 2003, USA

Examining America’s War in Iraq After 20 Years

On March 20, 2003, what was officially one of America’s shorter wars began with an airstrike on Saddam Hussein’s presidential palace in Baghdad. U.S. armed forces, 160,000 strong, moved out of Kuwait and across Iraq, and after overcoming a few small roadblocks along the way took the capital city within three weeks. On May 1, President George W. Bush declared victory from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, off the coast of San Diego. With combat over, “our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country,” Bush said. “In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world.”

by Blazingcatfur•February 6, 2023February 5, 2023•0•Iraq, Iraq war 2003, USA

‘Honour’ killing of YouTube star sparks outrage in Iraq

The death of a young YouTube star at the hands of her father has sparked outrage in Iraq, as so-called “honour” killings continue in the conservative country.

Tiba al-Ali, 22, was killed by her father on 31 January in the southern province of Diwaniya, interior ministry spokesperson Saad Maan said on Twitter on Friday.

Police had attempted to mediate between Ali – who lived in Turkey and was visiting Iraq – and her relatives to “resolve the family dispute in a definitive manner”, Maan said.

by Blazingcatfur•February 3, 2023February 3, 2023•0•"Islamophobia", Honor Killings, Iraq, Islam and violence

Clashes erupt after Iraqi Shiite cleric resigns, 10 dead

BAGHDAD (AP) — An influential Shiite cleric announced Monday that he would resign from Iraqi politics, prompting hundreds of his angry followers to storm the government palace and sparking clashes with security forces in which at least 10 protesters were killed.

Protesters loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr pulled down the cement barriers outside the government palace with ropes and breached the palace gates. Many rushed into the lavish salons and marbled halls of the palace, a key meeting place for Iraqi heads of state and foreign dignitaries.

by Blazingcatfur•August 29, 2022August 29, 2022•0•Iraq

After 18 Disastrous Years, the U.S. Should Withdraw All Troops From Iraq

I witnessed firsthand how U.S. actions that favored one group inevitably angered another, which is why the war is an endless game of whack-a-mole.

In 2003, George W. Bush famously declared victory in Iraq, just as the war was about to turn into a deadly and chaotic quagmire. Eighteen years later, an estimated half a million Iraqis and 6,840 U.S troops have perished in the conflict.

Today, the U.S. has 2,500 troops in Iraq, down from a peak of 168,000 in 2007. In July, the government claimed that American troops will no longer engage in combat; instead, they’ll only train and assist Iraqi security forces in their fight against ISIS.

by Blazingcatfur•August 15, 2021August 14, 2021•0•Iraq, USA

Iraq PM: We don’t need American combat troops any more

The Iraq war “officially” ended in December of 2011 under the tenure of Barack Obama. (Well, the actual war against the government of Iraq under Saddam Hussein was over in about four weeks, but that’s a debate for another day.) Despite that fact, we’ve still been suffering troop casualties there ever since we went back in to combat ISIS and Iranian terror militias. Is that finally about to come to an end? That’s what the Iraqi Prime Minister is making it sound like. Mustafa al-Kadhimi is planning to meet with President Joe Biden in the coming week to discuss the future of America’s military presence in his country. While he believes we should remove our remaining combat troops, he would still like American military personnel around to train Iraq’s own military forces. So is this it? Are we really leaving?

by Blazingcatfur•July 26, 2021July 26, 2021•0•Iraq, USA

‘They will never let go’: Isis fighters regroup in the heart of Iraq

Along convoy of humvees, trucks and troop carriers moved slowly through the countryside to the south of the city of Kirkuk, ferrying dozens of Iraqi special forces. Their target was a string of hideouts used by Islamic State militants in the rough terrain of hills and lowlands crisscrossed by canals and long-dried seasonal river gullies, or wadis as they are called in Arabic.

In the lead vehicle sat the commanding officer, a young lieutenant-colonel, Ihab Jalil, with a clipped moustache and hazelnut-coloured eyes. He charted the routes of the convoy on his tablet. At the same time, switching between three radio sets, he talked to the pilots of two helicopters that circled over the convoy, scouting the road ahead.

by Blazingcatfur•July 11, 2021July 11, 2021•0•"Islamophobia", Iraq, Islam, Islam and violence

WATCH — Fmr Miss Iraq: A Quarter of Muslims Want to Eradicate the U.S. and Israel

A former Miss Iraq who was forced to flee her native country after posting a selfie with Miss Israel said at a pro-Israel rally 25 percent of the global Muslim population are radical Islamists who want to eradicate the U.S. and Israel.

by Sarcasticat•June 3, 2021June 2, 2021•0•Iraq, Islam and hatred of Israel, Islam and hatred of Jews, Islam's incompatibility with Western values, Islam's War On Civilization, Islamic Barbarians, Israel, Israeli - Islam Conflict, USA