Tag: iraq

Lessons Unlearned From Israel’s Bombing Of Iraq’s Osirak Reactor

In a recent New York Times opinion article, Amos Yadlin, a former chief of Israel’s military intelligence, attempted to defend Israel’s recent decision to start a war with Iran, in which Israel was briefly joined by the U.S. government under the administration of President Donald Trump.

Under the headline “Why Israel Had to Act,” Yadlin’s opening sentence states, “Forty-four years ago this June, I sat in the cockpit on the Israeli air force mission that destroyed Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor. In one daring operation, we eliminated Saddam Hussein’s nuclear ambitions.”

The parallels between that event and the current war on Iran are indeed remarkable—but the real lesson to be learned from it is precisely the opposite of the one Yadlin draws.

In addition to constituting aggression under international law, “the supreme international crime” as defined at Nuremberg, the American and Israeli bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities proves how policymakers in both countries refuse to learn from the lessons of history.

The claim that Israel’s bombing of Iraq’s Osirak reactor in 1981 halted or set back Saddam Hussein’s efforts to acquire a nuclear weapons capability is a popular myth.

In fact, Iraq had been a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) since it came into force in 1970, and its nuclear program was under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which had reported that the program was in compliance with Iraq’s legal obligations under the treaty.

Israel, by contrast, is known to possess nuclear weapons and “has not adhered to” the NPT, as the United Nations Security Council observed in Resolution 487. Unanimously adopted on June 19, 1981, that resolution strongly condemned Israel’s act of aggression.

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Netanyahu Claims Killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Would ‘End the Conflict’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in an interview on Monday that killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would “end the conflict” with Iran.

Netanyahu made the comments during an interview with ABC News in response to a question about a report that said President Trump was opposed to killing Khamenei over concerns that it would escalate the war. “It’s not going to escalate the conflict, it’s going to end the conflict,” Netanyahu said.

“We’ve had half a century of conflict spread by this regime that terrorizes everyone in the Middle East … The ‘forever war’ is what Iran wants,” the Israeli leader said.

Eli Clifton, a senior advisor at the Quincy Institute, pointed out in a post on X that Netanyahu was a major proponent of taking out Saddam Hussein and urged the US to go through with the invasion of Iraq. “If you take out Saddam, Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region,” he told Congress in 2002.

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Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on ‘war crimes’ by colleagues

Former members of UK Special Forces have broken years of silence to give BBC Panorama eyewitness accounts of alleged war crimes committed by colleagues in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Giving their accounts publicly for the first time, the veterans described seeing members of the SAS murder unarmed people in their sleep and execute handcuffed detainees, including children.

“They handcuffed a young boy and shot him,” recalled one veteran who served with the SAS in Afghanistan. ”He was clearly a child, not even close to fighting age.”

Killing of detainees “became routine”, the veteran said. “They’d search someone, handcuff them, then shoot them”, before cutting off the plastic handcuffs used to restrain people and “planting a pistol” by the body, he said.

The new testimony includes allegations of war crimes stretching over more than a decade, far longer than the three years currently being examined by a judge-led public inquiry in the UK.

The SBS, the Royal Navy’s elite special forces regiment, is also implicated for the first time in the most serious allegations – executions of unarmed and wounded people.

A veteran who served with the SBS said some troops had a “mob mentality”, describing their behaviour on operations as “barbaric”.

“I saw the quietest guys switch, show serious psychopathic traits,” he said. “They were lawless. They felt untouchable.”

Special Forces were deployed to Afghanistan to protect British troops from Taliban fighters and bombmakers. The conflict was a deadly one for members of the UK’s armed forces – 457 lost their lives and thousands more were wounded.

Asked by the BBC about the new eyewitness testimony, the Ministry of Defence said that it was “fully committed” to supporting the ongoing public inquiry into the alleged war crimes and that it urged all veterans with relevant information to come forward. It said that it was “not appropriate for the MoD to comment on allegations” which may be in the inquiry’s scope.

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22 YEARS AGO, BUSH ANNOUNCED THE END OF MAJOR COMBAT OPERATIONS IN IRAQ – OOPS…

Last week marked the 22nd anniversary of one of the greatest strategic blunders of the 21st Century United States. On May 1, 2003 aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, then President George W Bush made the following proclamation marking the end of ‘major combat operations’ in Iraq:

“THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. (Applause.) And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.

In this battle, we have fought for the cause of liberty, and for the peace of the world. Our nation and our coalition are proud of this accomplishment — yet, it is you, the members of the United States military, who achieved it. Your courage, your willingness to face danger for your country and for each other, made this day possible. Because of you, our nation is more secure. Because of you, the tyrant has fallen, and Iraq is free. (Applause.)

Operation Iraqi Freedom was carried out with a combination of precision and speed and boldness the enemy did not expect, and the world had not seen before. From distant bases or ships at sea, we sent planes and missiles that could destroy an enemy division, or strike a single bunker. Marines and soldiers charged to Baghdad across 350 miles of hostile ground, in one of the swiftest advances of heavy arms in history. You have shown the world the skill and the might of the American Armed Forces.”1

Similarly, GEN (Ret) Tommy Franks took a bow for what he saw as a victory. He now has a museum in his name called the General Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum (www.tommyfranksmuseum.org) and was the subject of his very own biography American Soldier. His museum webpage brags:

“The Commander in Chief of the United States Central Command from July 2000 through July 2003, General Tommy Franks made history by leading American and Coalition forces to victory in Afghanistan and Iraq—the decisive battles that launched the war on terrorism.”2

The US went on to infamously lose the Afghanistan war in front of news cameras in August 2021. The Iraq war was far from “won.” In fact, the ultimate outcome is still in doubt. The war went on to cost the US $1-$3 Trillion and goes on today under the guise of the Inherent Resolve Operation where US troops are still in Iraq in the year 2025. Over 4,400 US servicemembers and nearly 300,000 Iraqi civilians would die in Iraq, the vast majority AFTER Bush’s proclamation and the publication of Franks’ biography.

The US State Department as of 6 May 2025 has the following travel advisory concerning Iraq, indicating that 22 years later, Iraq is anything but the victory Bush and Frank described:

“Country Summary: U.S. citizens in Iraq face high risks, including violence and kidnapping. Terrorist and insurgent groups regularly attack Iraqi security forces and civilians. Anti-U.S. militias threaten U.S. citizens and international companies. Attacks using improvised explosive devices, indirect fire, and unmanned aerial vehicles occur in many areas, including major cities. Consular officers may not always able to assist U.S. citizens. The Department of State requires U.S. government personnel in Iraq to live and work under strict security due to serious threats.”3

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U.S. Government: We Didn’t Use ‘Political Violence’ in Iraq

Why does Washington find it hard to beat Iranian influence? According to the State Department, it’s because the U.S. doesn’t use “political violence” in Iraq, a country that the U.S. famously invaded and occupied in 2003.

“Iran uses levers of power that we refrain from using (political violence, bribery) and has economic and cultural relationships we cannot replicate,” says the State Department’s Iraq Familiarization Course slideshow from 2020 and 2021, which it just released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), along with several hundred pages of other training documents.

This message isn’t propaganda for public consumption; it is an internal statement of the State Department’s line. Part of mandatory training for employees stationed at the U.S. embassy and consulates in Iraq, the slideshow is a window into what the U.S. government tells itself about its role in the Middle East. The line that “we refrain from using political violence” is a sign that American leaders haven’t really internalized what a disaster the Iraq War was.

“A stable, sovereign, united Iraq is core to pursuing all our interests in Iraq,” the slideshow states. “Optimal approach: Highlight that Iraq’s path to stability is through a strong relationship with the U.S., not Iran.”

To be clear, the Iranian government has used violence and bribery to influence Iraq, fostering predominantly Shi’ite sectarian militias that run their own protection rackets and assassinate peaceful opponents.

But one of the largest acts of “political violence” in Iraq’s history was the U.S. invasion of 2003, when American troops invaded the country, toppled its government, and imposed a new one at gunpoint. (So much for Iraqi sovereignty.) The Iraq Body Count Project has documented at least 120,108 civilian deaths, some of which the U.S. Department of Defense tried to sweep under the rug, as a result of the war from 2003 to 2011.

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Peace Through Strength: U.S. Forces Eliminate ISIS Global Operations Chief and Second-in-Command in Precision Airstrike

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), in cooperation with Iraqi Intelligence and Security Forces, executed a precision airstrike on Thursday that eliminated one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists—ISIS Global Operations Chief and second-in-command, Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, known as “Abu Khadijah.”

The strike, carried out in Iraq’s Al Anbar Province, not only neutralized Abu Khadijah but also took down another high-level ISIS operative.

Abu Khadijah, the Emir of ISIS’s senior decision-making body, was instrumental in coordinating global terror attacks, overseeing logistics, and funneling finances to sustain the radical Islamist network. His elimination is a crippling blow to the remnants of ISIS.

“Abu Khadijah was one of the most important ISIS members in the entire global ISIS organization. We will continue to kill terrorists and dismantle their organizations that threaten our homeland and U.S., allied and partner personnel in the region and beyond,” said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander, U.S. Central Command.

Following the strike, CENTCOM and Iraqi forces confirmed the successful elimination of both terrorists.

“Both terrorists were wearing unexploded “suicide vests” and had multiple weapons,” according to the press release.

“CENTCOM and Iraqi forces were able to identify Abu Khadijah through a DNA match from DNA collected on a previous raid where Abu Khadijah narrowly escaped.”

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Democrat Senator Chris Coons Offers an Insane Reason to Justify Spending Millions of Taxpayer Dollars on Sesame Street in IRAQ Via USAID

One elected Democrat official decided to step up and defend an item that any person with common sense would deem absolutely asinine.

Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) appeared on CNN on Saturday and was asked about the Trump Administration’s efforts to close down USAID.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, USAID has been in the crosshairs for the past week, given the billions of dollars of waste exposed by DOGE. Some of the examples exposed have been absolutely stunning.

In one instance, the agency funneled $5 billion in 2014 to ignite riots in Ukraine, according to RFK Jr.

While it would be otherwise expected for a Democrat to smear Trump as heartless and cruel regarding his stance on getting rid of government waste, Coons decided to embarrass himself for an different reason on national television.

During their discussion, host Michael Smerconish asked the Delaware senator if he could justify spending $20 million of taxpayer money on Sesame Street in Iraq.

“Is funding Sesame Street (in Iraq) a judicious use of soft power?” Smerconish asked.

Instead avoiding the question as one would expect from a dishonest Democrat, Coons went ALL IN on defending the indefensible with this insane response.

“This isn’t just funding a kids show for children, millions of children in countries like Iraq,” Coons claimed.

“It’s a show that helps teach values, helps teach public health, helps prevent kids from dying from dysentery and disease, and helps push values like collaboration, peacefulness, cooperation in a society where the alternative is ISIS extremism and terrorism,” he added.

Spending money on publicly funded television in America is bad enough, but trying to justify its use in a country that has been all-but taken over Iran is another level of bad.

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Iraq lowers age of consent to just 9 years old in sick new law so old men can marry children

Iraq has passed a law that would legalise the marriage of children as young as nine.

Three divisive laws have now been passed which give Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance. Activists argue that this undermines Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law, which unified family law and established safeguards for women.

Iraqi law currently sets 18 as the minimum age of marriage in most cases. The changes passed Tuesday would let clerics rule according to their interpretation of Islamic law, which some interpret to allow marriage of girls in their early teens – or as young as 9 under the Jaafari school of Islamic law followed by many Shiite religious authorities in Iraq.

Proponents of the changes defend them as a means to align the law with Islamic principles and reduce Western influence on Iraqi culture.

The parliament also passed a general amnesty law seen as benefiting Sunni detainees and that’s also seen as giving a pass to people involved in corruption and embezzlement. The chamber also passed a land restitution law aimed at addressing Kurdish territorial claims.

Intisar al-Mayali, a human rights activist and a member of the Iraqi Women’s League, said passage of the civil status law amendments “will leave disastrous effects on the rights of women and girls, through the marriage of girls at an early age, which violates their right to life as children, and will disrupt the protection mechanisms for divorce, custody and inheritance for women.” The session ended in chaos and accusations of procedural violations.

“Half of the lawmakers present in the session did not vote, which broke the legal quorum,” a parliamentary official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. He said that some members protested loudly and others climbed onto the parliamentary podium.

After the session, a number of legislators complained about the voting process, under which all three controversial laws – each of which was supported by different blocs – were voted on together.

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Iraq preparing to enter Syria conflict

The Prime Minster of Iraq, Mohammed al-Sudani has been authorized by the Iraq House of Representatives to take the decision to enter the Syria war.

Al-Sudani has already mobilized the Iraq army on the border with Syria.

Now, at any moment, he may issue the Order to enter Syria in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Iraq does not want an ISIS-like caliphate on its border. Therefore if Iraq enters, it will want to help Assad.

This is very understandable, especially given their previous experiences with ISIS.

The stakes now, though, seem very much higher because of who is backing the HTS Terrorists. This is an unexpected eventuality

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Iraqi Shia Militias Enter Fight In Syria

Reports from the Middle East confirm Iranian proxy-army militias have entered the conflict from Iraq.

Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah and Fatemiyoun have arrived in Syria overnight.

These groups seek to establish a pro-Iranian regime in Iraq, and fought against coalition forces during the Iraq War. They are responsible for killing hundreds of U.S. soldiers.

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