iraq Archives -

Good News from Everywhere

August 23, 2018 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

If you are depressed from reading the daily news, it’s nothing new – “if it bleeds, it leads” as an editorial philosophy that much predates the Trump presidency or for …

Politics

May 6, 2018 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

GOOD NEWS FROM IRAQ – Via Buzzfeed: When Zeinab Mohamed was a teenager, she was barred from going out after dark, even in her own neighborhood. Plagued with bombings, shootings, …

Politics

Ottoman Empire 2.0

February 27, 2018 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

The Turkish President Recep Erdogan has made the international news again, this time for a bizarre case of psychological child abuse: The Turkish president has appeared in a bizarre video in which …

Politics

“ISIS has lost 98 per cent of its territory”

December 27, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

The military defeat of ISIS is one of the great good news stories of 2017, something I blogged about before (“If ISIS falls in a desert, Obama is no longer …

Politics

December 16, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

WILL SHE MISS IRAQ? – About a month ago, outrage erupted across the Middle East – no, it was not because Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as a capital of Israel, …

Politics

November 1, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

IF YOU TREAT THEM MEAN, IT DOESN’T KEEP THEM KEEN – If you don’t show love to your allies and supporters, someone else will: Russia has invited the Kurdish-led authorities …

Politics

If ISIS falls in a desert, and Obama is not the President, does anyone hear about it?

October 18, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

Raqqa, the “capital” of the ISIS caliphate straddling Syria and Iraq, has fallen. The rolling back of the Islamic State, a terrorist organisation which over the course of an unexpected …

Politics

October 17, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

SCREWING THE KURDS – My spell-checker must be Shia because it suggests I correct KURDS to TURDS. Make that Shiite. And they are rejoicing: Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior foreign …

Politics

July 10, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

GOOD NEWS FROM IRAQ – The Iraqi forces have declared victory over ISIS in Mosul, as AFP declares victory for Obama: The Iraqi military’s hard-fought victory over the Islamic State …

Politics

June 11, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

DID THEY BAG DADDY? – Another round of unconfirmed reports that the ISIS head had been cut off so to speak: Syrian state television has claimed the world’s most wanted …

Politics

June 1, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

JUST A REMINDER… – It’s not just Manchester. If you follow the news, you would of course be familiar with these outrages, but just to recap the past few days: …

Politics

While you were sleeping…

April 29, 2017April 29, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

…American armour – in Syria – is interposing itself as a shield between Turkey and the American backed Syrian Kurdish rebels: U.S. armored vehicles are deploying in areas in northern …

Politics

The Problem from Hell

April 6, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

Some 14 years ago, Samantha Power, the then Professor of Human Rights Practice at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, wrote a weighty and important tome, titled “A Problem from Hell”: …

Politics

March 9, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

STRAIGHT OUTTA MOSUL – The Calirat is deserting his sinking Caliphate: US and Iraqi officials believe the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has left operational commanders behind …

Politics

February 7, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

GOOD NEWS FROM MOSUL: “WE WILL FIND YOU AND KILL YOU” – In the recently liberated east Mosul, the only good ISIS are dead ISIS, and they’re getting what they …

Politics

House of War, House of Peace

January 6, 2017 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

The Islamic theology divides the world into two parts: Dar al Islam and Dar al Harb, or the House of Islam and the House of War. Sometimes, the House of …

Happiness / Life / Politics

In defence of Wyatt “Earp” Roy

October 2, 2016October 4, 2016 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

Yeah, I know; who would have thought I would ever write a blog post with this title. We truly live in strange times, and 2016 never ceases to surprise. As …

Politics

A modest proposal to solve the European refugee crisis

August 11, 2016 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

Anyone can become a refugee. According to a United Nations Refugee Convention definition, refugee is anyone who cannot remain in their own country because of a well-founded fear of persecution …

Politics

Trump vs Hillary â€“ your short foreign policy guide

August 8, 2016August 8, 2016 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

Foreign policy can be confusing. Political candidatesâ€™ foreign policy positions can be even more confusing. Confused? Fret not; here is your Daily Chrenkâ€™s short guide to Donald Trumpâ€™s and Hillary …

Politics

The grim cost of no war in Iraq

July 8, 2016 - by Arthur Chrenkoff

The left loves fighting wars – against wars. The release of the Chilcot report in Britain has given the anti-Iraq war left the new lease of life in re-fighting 2003. …