Category Archive

In a televised interview, pro-American Iraqi President Barham Salih said that his country could no longer rely on the Americans, and so Iraq might re-evaluate its relationship with other powers, including Russia and Iran. This interview took place shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump announced that a military operation had killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. As he spoke in …

In the face of mounting uncertainty, representatives from China, Russia, the United States, and Pakistan all agreed that talks with the Taliban hold the most promise for lasting peace in the war-torn country. The daylong Moscow conference was a precursor to intra-Afghanistan talks in Beijing. These negotiations should begin in November. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is a surprise participant in …

At Barnett Lerner, we deal with a number of deployment-related trauma injuries. As might be expected, most of them involve guns and bombs, but a few involve falls and other mishaps. Weapons of war cause both visible injuries and invisible injuries. These invisible injuries, especially brain injuries, are especially common in Iraq and Afghanistan. Combat contractors also struggle with occupational …

Recent events suggest that what was a local conflict in Iraq could soon become a regional conflict, as both Iran and Israel have recently joined in the fighting in the war-torn country. What do these developments mean for private military contractors? Officials believe that an Iranian-backed militia group launched a pair of rockets into Baghdad’s Green Zone. One projectile landed …

The United Nations, working with representatives from Iran, Turkey, and Russia, has brought Syrian strongman Bashar Assad and key rebel groups to the bargaining table. An agreement could mean the end of the long-running civil war in that country. In announcing the results of a trilateral summit in Ankara, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said that a “credible, balanced and inclusive …