Tracey Shelton

The Islamic State Is Quickly Losing Local Support

When IS first made inroads in Iraq, it didn’t enforce its most stringent policies. Now, the group is blowing up sacred shrines, and Sunni residents are re-evaluating their prior support of the extremists.

Tracey Shelton
By Tracey Shelton
Iraq

KIRKUK, Iraq — When the Islamic State and a band of local Sunni militants took the city of Mosul in June, local resident Aiala was happy. Being a devout Muslim, she said it angered her when women would walk in the streets dressed “immodestly.” She hoped Islamic rule would bring “morality” to Mosul. Recently, she changed her mind. “They are

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Obama Says He Authorized Airstrikes In Iraq, Speaks Of ‘Genocide’

The president said aid and possible strikes are intended to counter gains by Islamic militants and save the lives of persecuted minorities.

Tracey Shelton
Lizzy Tomei
By Tracey Shelton
And Lizzy Tomei

ERBIL, Iraq — President Barack Obama said in a statement to the nation on Thursday evening that he has authorized airstrikes in Iraq. Obama said the US is also running a humanitarian operation in northern Iraq, at the request of the Iraqi government, to aid tens of thousands of Yazidis forced from their homes by Islamic State militants over the

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Is This The Man Who Broke Iraq?

Sunni dissenters blame Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for the fall of northern Iraq to the jihadists. But some also say the US shares the blame.

Tracey Shelton
By Tracey Shelton
Nouri al-Maliki

KIRKUK, Iraq — Support for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is fading fast as Iran last week added its voice to international and domestic calls for his resignation. In a letter read by one of his aides on Friday, supreme Shia cleric Ayatullah Ali Al-Sistani urged Iraq’s political leaders not to “cling to their posts,” while the State

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You’ve Heard About ISIS. You Haven’t Heard About These Guys

While the Islamic State, previously known as ISIS or ISIL (for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), is the group the media associate with the Sunni uprising in Iraq, they are in reality one of six main groups that make up the coalition that seized control of a large chunk of western and central Iraq last month.

Tracey Shelton
By Tracey Shelton

KIRKUK, Iraq — Doctor Sadoon al Obeidi used to be a member of the Mujahadeen Army, a Sunni militant group founded in Iraq a decade ago. Now he fights alongside the Islamic State — the extremist group that split off from Al Qaeda earlier this year and has swept through Syria and northern Iraq in the past month, declaring a new cross-border

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The Kurds Move Closer To Independence

Many Kurds who have longed dreamt of independence are eager to vote. Others worry a referendum could further destabilize the region.

Tracey Shelton
By Tracey Shelton

KIRKUK, Iraq — As Iraqi Kurdish president Massoud Barzani asked legislators to prepare for an independence referendum Thursday, dozens of Kurds in the region's capital Erbil rallied in support, waving flags and chanting slogans of freedom and independence. The reaction internationally has not been so welcoming. The US urged the Kurds to

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Life Under ISIL Rule

Initially, ISIL got a warm welcome in Mosul and elsewhere. But everyone braced for a backlash.

Tracey Shelton
By Tracey Shelton

KIRKUK, Iraq — Shortly after Al Qaeda-inspired militants swept across northern Iraq, civilians in Mosul and its surrounds said they were ready to try their luck under these new, albeit militant, rulers. Residents in the north said conditions had actually improved in the short-term. There were reports in Mosul and elsewhere of restored water and

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War Drives More Than Half Of Syria’s Students From School, Into ‘Black Hole’

Hopelessness creeps in amid a range of peril including bombing, gunfire, arrest, torture, execution, military conscription and a growing national economic crisis.

Tracey Shelton
By Tracey Shelton

ANTAKYA, Turkey — Entering her final year at Aleppo University, Hiba Obied was full of confidence. Like university students everywhere, she dreamed of a bright future full of opportunities, hard work and success. An important round of exams was set to begin last January, and Obied said the university was brimming with nervous students. “We

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