Ctc.usma.edu (Combating Terrorism Center)

August 2019, Volume 12, Issue 7
Authors: Michael Knights
Categories: IranIraqCooperation, Competition, & FissuresStrategy, History, & GoalsBadr CorpsHezbollah & Other Shia GroupsIran Revolutionary Guard CorpsQuds Force

Washingtonpost.com | By Liz Sly 

QAMISHLI, Syria — At a closely guarded prison in this northeastern Syrian town, former Islamic State fighters make papier-mâché models of birds, flowers and trees while serving sentences that typically run two or three years.

Americanprogress.org | By Max Hoffman

Washingtonpost.com | By Masrour Barzani *

After 16 years of upheaval in Iraq and five brutal years of war with the Islamic State terrorist group, a foe that imperiled all of humanity, we are embarking on a new journey toward building a stronger Kurdistan. The next four years will be a defining time for us, our neighbors and our allies in which we, the Kurdistan Regional Government, look past our recent traumas, consolidate our place in the region and secure a presence on the international stage. In short, we want to make a new start.

The Kurdistan Parliament, meeting in Erbil on July 10, 2019, approved by a large majority the new government proposed by Prime Minister-designate Masrour Barzani.

Nytimes.com | By Brennan Cusack* | July 8, 2019

A campaign of silencing and prosecution is creating a vacuum at a pivotal moment.

Ms. Cusack, a journalist, was based in Cairo and Istanbul from 2017 to 2018.

nytimes.com  | by By Peter S. Goodman | June 25, 2019

Turkey's economic disaster drives a revolt

ISTANBUL — The shocking rebuke of Turkey’s governing party in Sunday’s mayoral election in Istanbul resonated as more than a yearning for new leadership in the nation’s largest city. It signaled mounting despair over the economic disaster that has befallen the nation under the strongman rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Nytimes.com | By Carlotta Gall

ANKARA, Turkey — Once jailed for reciting a poem at a political rally, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has styled himself throughout his rise as a champion of freedom and justice, and his early push for judicial reforms were widely hailed.

www.wsj.com | By  Benoit Faucon and  Sune Engel Rasmussen | 16, 2019

Infrastructure projects and smuggling help Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps skirt sanctions

TEHRAN, Iran—The country’s top paramilitary force is maintaining support for armed groups in the Middle East and finding new sources of funding, defying U.S. efforts to curb its activities abroad as tensions between Washington and Tehran soar following fresh attacks in the Gulf of Oman.

aljazeera.com | By Ali Bakeer | 30 May 2019

Unable to sustain its Syrian campaign, Iran is rapidly losing ground to Russia.