ISIL’s and Iran’s expanded power loom as legacy of Obama’s military exit from Iraq

By on    BB Columnists, Columnists, Exclusives, Iran, Iraq, John Metzler, Mideast, Stateside, Syria, Terrorism, Top Stories, U.S. Military, Washington  

ISIL’s and Iran’s expanded power loom as legacy of Obama’s military exit from Iraq

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — “Since last summer’s onslaught by terrorists of the so-called ISIL, Iraq has been living through one of the most difficult phases of its modern history,” said Jan Kubis, the UN’s special representative, in a sobering assessment of the current situation in Iraq. Yet in a […]

Exiting Army chief: U.S. could have stopped ISIL ‘if we stayed in Iraq longer’

By on    BB Middle East, Exclusives, Iraq, Mideast, Stateside, Terrorism, Top Stories, U.S. Intelligence, U.S. Military, Washington  

Exiting Army chief: U.S. could have stopped ISIL ‘if we stayed in Iraq longer’

Special to WorldTribune.com The United States might have prevented the rise of Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) “if we had stayed a little bit more engaged,” Gen. Ray Odierno said. Odierno, 60, chief of staff for the U.S. Army, is retiring after nearly 40 years as a soldier. In an interview with Fox […]