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MECRA RESEARCH BLOG
The MECRA research blog is composed of short articles and may include outside contributions. The views expressed in these blogs and articles are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis editorial stance.
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MECRA
Sep 28, 20194 min read
"We are all al-Saadi": The controversy around Iraq's PM and the removal of CTS commander
A hashtag spreading on social media in support of CTS commander Lt. Gen. Abdul Wahab al-Saadi (عبد الوهاب الساعدي) is calling into...
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MECRA
Sep 10, 20194 min read
Recent reports about the PMU's role in Iraq
Recent weeks have brought into the spotlight the role of the Hashd al-Sha'abi or Popular Mobilization Units in Iraq. This comes amid...
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MECRA
Sep 10, 20194 min read
Media timeline II of PMU and alleged airstrikes, tensions
In July and August tensions rose with the Hashd al-Shaabi (PMU) in Iraq due to internal politics, such as controversies in Nineveh...
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MECRA
Aug 21, 20197 min read
Timeline: Tracking reports of mysterious explosions and "airstrikes" in Iraq directed at PMU bases
Recent reports of explosions at bases of the Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Units in Iraq have led to claims that a foreign...
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MECRA
Aug 20, 201911 min read
Tensions Follow Iraqi Government Decision to Withdraw the Hashd Al-Shaabi from the Nineveh Plain
MECRA's Iraq reporter recently carried out a reporting trip into the Nineveh (Ninawa) area, speaking to officials and commanders and...
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MECRA
Aug 7, 20195 min read
An Iraqi-Kurdish MP discusses the importance of good relations with Baghdad
By LAURA KELLY Sarkawt Shamsulddin left the ’New Generation’ party to start the ‘Future Parliamentary Group,’ a rare voice in calling for...
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MECRA
Jun 27, 20192 min read
Protesters target Bahrain embassy in Baghdad
Protesters targeted the Bahrain embassy (السفارة البحرينية) in Baghdad on Thursday night in the wake of the US-backed conference in...
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MECRA
May 26, 20193 min read
Iran's FM Zarif meets Badr's Hadi al-Amiri
During a trip to Iraq by Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (محمد جواد ظريف) on Sunday May 26, the Iranian met with Badr...
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MECRA
May 20, 20196 min read
How Iraq's Shia militias are reacting to the rocket attack on the Green Zone and US embassy area
On May 19 a Katyusha rocket fired from near Baghdad's Technological University landed near the monument to the Unknown Soldier not far...
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MECRA
Apr 26, 20198 min read
Yazidi ruling helps children of women kidnapped by ISIS return
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN A new ruling by the Yazidi Supreme Spiritual Council has sought to help solve one of the more complex and...
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MECRA
Apr 2, 20196 min read
The Arrest of Aws al-Khafaji: Looking at the Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Forces
By AYMENN JAWAD AL-TAMIMI In February, security forces affiliated with the Iraqi government’s Hashd Sha’abi commission carried out a raid...
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MECRA
Mar 24, 20193 min read
Will ferry disaster in Mosul have broad political ramifications
The deaths of over 100 people on a ferry ride to Umm al-Rabeein island on March 21 in Mosul has led to protests and the likely dismissal...
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MECRA
Mar 14, 20196 min read
Can Iraq and Kurdistan rebuild and stabilize Sinjar?
By PAUL IDDON The Iraqi government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) plan to jointly rebuild the Yazidis homeland,...
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MECRA
Mar 9, 20195 min read
The Fall of the Caliphate
No new beginnings in sight for ravaged Syria. The Jerusalem Post (8/3) The Islamic State proclaimed by the Iraqi jihadist Abu Bakr...
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MECRA
Mar 9, 20193 min read
Interview and report: ISIS ambushes Hashd al-Shaabi (PMU) on Kirkuk-Makhmur road
Units of the 15th Brigade of the Hashd al-Shaabi (PMU) were ambushed while driving at night on March 6 from Tuz toward Mosul via Kirkuk...
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MECRA
Mar 9, 20193 min read
Who will help save the Yazidis
By DAWOOD SALEH The author is a survivor of the Yazidi genocide. He is the author of Walking Alone. This article first appears in The...
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MECRA
Mar 9, 20192 min read
Signs in Basra extol Shi'ite groups, fallen in the war on ISIS and Iranian leaders
A trip to Basra by Dave McAvoy reveals the extent of imagery lining roads showing different figures from Iraq's Shi'ite political parties...
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MECRA
Mar 8, 20192 min read
Report: Bombing targets Director of National Security for Mosul, latest in rising attacks by ISIS
A VBIED bomb targeted Mosul on Friday night, slightly over a week after another bomb struck the same area targeting a cafe near Mosul...
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MECRA
Feb 23, 20194 min read
Iran officials predict greater influence in Iraq and US withdrawal from Middle East
“Today the best and closest friend [of Iran] are the rulers of Iraq,” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Major General Qasem...
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MECRA
Jan 26, 20195 min read
Implications and ramifications after Kurdish protesters enter Turkish base in KRG, northern Iraq
Kurdish protesters gathered outside of a Turkish army base on January 26 in northern Iraq's Kurdish region. This area along the border...
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