The Christian population of Iraq in 2003 (under Saddam Hussein) was two million. It's just 180,000 today

ISIS took the city of Mosul in Iraq in June 2014 and embarked on a terrifying campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Hundreds of thousands of Christians fled from Mosul and the Nineveh Plains after the crazed jihadis issued an ultimatum - convert to Islam or be beheaded.

Christians face abduction, attack and sexual abuse at the hands of extremists and fears have been raised Christianity could be on the verge of extinction under ISIS .... http://www.express.co.uk

Chlicot report: George Bush says world is better off without Saddam Hussein

George Bush, the plan who planned with Tony Blair, to invade Iraq and oust Saddam Hussein, has not yet had a chance to read the Chilcot report.

Mr Bush’s spokesman said that the former president was hosting wounded military veterans for a bike ride at his ranch in Texas. The release of the report coincided with Mr Bush’s 70th birthday.

“Despite the intelligence failures and other mistakes he has acknowledged previously, President Bush continues to believe the whole world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power, spokesman Freddy Ford said in a statement .... http://www.independent.co.uk

'I will be with you, whatever' - Tony Blair Assured George Bush

Tony Blair wrote to George W Bush eight months before the Iraq invasion to offer his unqualified backing for war well before UN weapons inspectors had completed their work, saying: “I will be with you, whatever.”

In a six-page memo marked secret and personal, the then British prime minister told Bush in July 2002 that the removal of Saddam Hussein would “free up the region” even if Iraqis may “feel ambivalent about being invaded” and could well fight back .... http://www.independent.co.uk

UK press condemn Blair 'arrogance' over Iraq war

London (AFP) - Tony Blair pleaded with his critics to stop questioning his intentions over Britain's disastrous war in Iraq, after a blistering verdict by the Chilcot inquiry -- but commentators Thursday showed scant sympathy.

"For his own sanity he still has to tell himself the world is 'better and safer' for him joining George Bush's assault on Iraq. It is a monumental delusion," said an editorial in The Sun, Britain's top-selling paper.

It added: "Blair does admit the post-war planning was a calamity. That is his only concession. He sees no reason to apologise for his decision to go to war and insists he'd do the same again.

Appearing close to tears, Blair had said he felt more sorrow than anyone could imagine for the conflict .... https://www.yahoo.com

WikiLeaks Releases Over 1,000 Clinton Iraq War Emails

WikiLeaks has released 1,258 of Hillary Clinton’s emails in relation to the Iraq war, preceding the British Chilcot report on the conflict set to be released later this week.

WikiLeaks tweeted a link to their email archive from their official Twitter page today. Wikileaks appears to have a substantial amount of information on Clinton, having already released a large archive of Clinton’s emails earlier in the year. Breitbart has previously reported on Julian Assange’s claims that Google is complicit in the managing of Clintons online media campaign.

Released only a week after Bill Clinton’s meeting with Attorney General, Loretta Lynch and a day after Huma Abedins admission that Hillary Clinton had burned daily schedules, the contents of Hillary’s released emails, containing multiple interactions between Clinton and multiple white house officials, could be extremely damaging to Clinton’s current presidential campaign .... http://www.breitbart.com

Iraq mourns over 200 killed in Baghdad blast; citizens angry at failure to protect them

Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqis on Monday mourned more than 200 people killed in a Baghdad suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group and accused the government of not doing enough to protect them.

The search continued for bodies at the site of the attack, which ripped through the Karrada district early on Sunday as it teemed with shoppers ahead of this week’s holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced efforts to address longstanding security flaws in Baghdad following the blast, which came a week after Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Fallujah from IS.

But on the streets, Iraqis were angry at the government’s inability to keep residents safe, even as its forces push IS back outside the capital .... https://www.yahoo.com

Baghdad road, in 2003 and 2012.

Tony Blair indicates he won't accept Iraq war inquiry verdict

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has indicated that he will not accept the verdict of the upcoming Iraq war inquiry report if it accuses him of committing London to invading the Arab country before he told parliament.

Sir John Chilcot, a former British civil servant, is due to publish his long-awaited inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the March 2003 invasion of Iraq and its aftermath into the war on July 6. The Chilcot inquiry report is expected to be highly critical of Blair and other political and military officials.

According to a 2015 White House memo, Blair had agreed to support the war a year before the invasion even started, while publicly he was working to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis .... http://www.presstv.ir

Vladimir Putin Morally and Intellectually Humiliates Mass Murderer Madeleine Albright

Madeleine Albright has morally and politically stripped herself naked. She has recently declared that Vladimir Putin “is smart, but a truly evil man.” Albright proves that she is not all that bright by adding: “a KGB officer, who wants to keep everything under control and believes that everyone conspires against Russia.”

Let us see if Albright’s promiscuous reasoning stands to rational scrutiny. In 1996, the Jewish lady and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations was being interviewed on 60 Minutes. She was asked to comment on the U.S. sanctions in Iraq, which literally ended up squeezing at least 500,000 children to death .... http://www.veteranstoday.com

The CIA Just Declassified the Document That Supposedly Justified the Iraq Invasion

Thirteen years ago, the intelligence community concluded in a 93-page classified document used to justify the invasion of Iraq that it lacked “specific information” on “many key aspects” of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs.

But that’s not what top Bush administration officials said during their campaign to sell the war to the American public. Those officials, citing the same classified document, asserted with no uncertainty that Iraq was actively pursuing nuclear weapons, concealing a vast chemical and biological weapons arsenal, and posing an immediate and grave threat to US national security .... https://news.vice.com

Tony Blair ‘deceived’ top ministers over Iraq invasion – new memoir

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair kept members of his cabinet and numerous high-profile Whitehall officials in the dark over his plans to create a “regime change” in Iraq and oust Saddam Hussein, a new memoir has revealed.

“Broken Vows,” a new book about the former PM by investigative journalist Tom Bower, reveals that Blair had decided as early as 2002 that Saddam Hussein should be removed, but failed to state his intentions to his Chief of Defence Staff, Cabinet Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and most of the Cabinet.

The book alleges that because so many top officials were out of the loop, the military were unable to begin training in earnest for an invasion, and subsequently suffered due to insufficient equipment. Blair always insisted he was an “honest broker,” looking for a peaceful solution .... https://www.rt.com/uk

Declassified Memo Proves The Pentagon Had ZERO Evidence Of WMDs In Iraq

Thirteen years after the invasion and occupation of Iraq, it is common knowledge that this war of choice was based on fabrications and slick propaganda. There were no weapons of mass destruction, the country posed no real threat to the U.S., and it was not a hotbed of terrorism until after Saddam was deposed.

Now, a bombshell has dropped in the form of a leaked classified report—a “smoking gun” if you will—that confirms the utter deception carried out on the American people to support the invasion. It demonstrates just how far the cabal under George W. Bush, making up a group known as the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), would go to prey upon fear in pursuit of global hegemony .... http://www.activistpost.com

Did Saudi Arabia Just Clear The Way For An Invasion Of Syria And Iraq?

Just last week, controversial Shiite lawmaker Hanan Fatlawi suggested that John McCain was planning to coordinate with the Saudis, Qatar, the UAE, and Turkey on a troop deployment to number 100,000 in Iraq. With the announcement of a new, 34 country military alliance, deputy crown prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman might have just verified Fatlawi's claims .... http://www.zerohedge.com

Turkish jets strike Kurdish positions in Iraq amid rising tension between Ankara & Baghdad

Ankara carried out airstrikes targeting Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) forces in northern Iraq, the Turkish army said on Wednesday. The action comes in the wake of rising tensions between Ankara and Baghdad over the deployment of Turkish troops in Iraq.

Ten F-16 fighter jets launched an attack between 10pm and 10:50pm on Tuesday, targeting PKK positions in the Kandil, Hakurk, Zap and Avasin-Baysan regions in northern Iraq, the Turkish General Staff said in a statement. It added that the targets were “destroyed in an aerial campaign.”

Tensions have been rising between Ankara and Baghdad after Turkey deployed hundreds of troops equipped with tanks and artillery to Iraq’s northern Nineveh Governorate last Thursday, saying they will train forces battling Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).

Baghdad said it had not asked for the help of Turkish forces, and demanded their withdrawal after it said Turkey had “illegally” sent the troops into Iraq .... https://www.rt.com

Turkey asks its citizens to leave Iraq for security concerns

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has asked all Turkish nationals in Iraq to leave the country immediately due to security reasons.

The Foreign Ministry said in a travel advisory that Turkish citizens are recommended to leave Iraq, bar the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

The ministry also warned Turkish citizens against non-essential trips to Iraq, claiming that the decision was aimed at protecting the Turks against terror attacks and threats.

The decision, however, comes as anti-Turkey sentiments are growing across Iraq over Ankara’s controversial troop deployment to northern Iraq .... http://www.presstv.ir

Iraq May Seek ‘Direct Military Intervention From Russia’ To Expel Turkish Troops

Turkey just can’t seem to help itself when it comes to escalations in the Mid-East.

First, Erdogan intentionally reignited the conflict between Ankara and the PKK in an effort to scare the public into nullifying a democratic election outcome. Then, the Turks shot down a Russian warplane near the Syrian border. Finally, in what very well might be an effort to protect Islamic State oil smuggling routes, Erdogan sent 150 troops and two dozen tanks to Bashiqa, just northeast of Mosul in a move that has infuriated Baghdad.

We discussed the troop deployment at length on Saturday in “Did Turkey Just Invade Iraq To Protect Erdogan’s ISIS Oil Smuggling Routes?,” and you’re encouraged to review the analysis in its entirety, but here was our conclusion .... http://www.zerohedge.com

'Specialized' US troops to fight IS in Iraq: defense chief

The United States is deploying "specialized" troops in Iraq to fight the Islamic State group, including by leading raids against the jihadists over the border in Syria, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday.

Speaking to the House Armed Services Committee, the Pentagon chief said that a "specialized expeditionary targeting force" was being deployed in Iraq to help Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces battle IS.

"American special operators bring a unique suite of capabilities that make them force multipliers," Carter said. "Where we find further opportunity to leverage such capability, we are prepared to expand it."

He said the special forces would also be able to intervene in neighboring Syria, where Washington has already announced it is sending about 50 special operations troops .... http://news.yahoo.com

Meet The Man Who Funds ISIS: Bilal Erdogan, The Son Of Turkey's President

Necmettin Bilal Erdogan, commonly known as Bilal Erdogan (born 23 April 1980) is the third child of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the current President of Turkey.

After graduating from Kartal Imam Hatip High School in 1999, Bilal Erdogan moved to the US for undergraduate education. He also earned a Masters Degree in John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2004. After graduation, he served in the World Bank as intern for a while. He returned Turkey in 2006 and started to his business life. Bilal Erdogan is one of the three equal shareholders of "BMZ Group Denizcilik ", a marine transportation corporation.

In the next few days, we will present a full breakdown of Bilal's various business ventures, starting with his BMZ Group which is the name implicated most often in the smuggling of illegal Iraqi and Islamic State through to the western supply chain, but for now here is a brief, if very disturbing snapshot, of both father and son Erdogan by F. William Engdahl, one which should make everyone ask whether the son of Turkey's president (and thus, the father) is the silent mastermind who has been responsible for converting millions of barrels of Syrian Oil into hundreds of millions of dollars of Islamic State revenue .... http://www.zerohedge.com

Turkey risks sparking world war, says Iraq's Maliki

Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi Vice President Nuri al-Maliki Thursday accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of pushing the world to the brink of a global conflict after Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane.

Maliki, a former prime minister who remains very influential, lashed out at Erdogan after Turkey shot down a Russian jet it said briefly violated its airspace during operations in northern Syria on Tuesday.

"Erdogan claims that a Russian aircraft entered Turkey's airspace for a few seconds, forgetting that its own planes violate Iraqi and Syrian airspace every day," he said in a statement.

Turkish fighter jets have in recent months carried out a series of deadly strikes against rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in their bases in the north of Iraq.

"Erdogan's double standards and aggressive policies are threatening a new world war," he said.

The authorities in Baghdad have long accused Ankara of playing a key role in the rise of the Islamic State group, which took over entire regions of Syria and Iraq over the past two years .... http://news.yahoo.com

Pentagon Ready to Pay for the Iraqi Civilians It Kills. Next Step: Admit It Kills Civilians

Some 3,586 airstrikes later, the American military is finally gearing up to compensate the families of Iraqis killed by American bombs in the ISIS war.

The Pentagon is about to get a $5 million fund to pay the Iraqi families of civilians killed by American airstrikes. It’s a big change for the U.S. military, which has yet to publicly acknowledge accidentally killing or wounding any innocents in the country even after 3,586 airstrikes targeting the so-calledIslamic State.

Buried deep in the annual defense budget bill, passed by the House Thursday, is $5 million set aside for the Defense Department to use in Iraq if the U.S. military harms a civilian or destroys their property .... http://www.thedailybeast.com