Tag: Middle East

Pence noted how the Obama administration spent over $1 billion in humanitarian aid to the Middle East, but sent the funding to various U.N. programs. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Mike Pence: US to stop funding ‘ineffective’ UN efforts to help Christians persecuted in Middle East

Diana Stancy Correll · October 26, 2017 12:04 am

Prince bin Salman criticized the Saudi Arabia of old, saying, "It was not like this in the past ... We will end extremism very soon." (Saudi Press Agency via AP)

Beltway Confidential

Saudi Arabia wants to modernize? They should stop terrorizing their neighbors first

Siraj Hashmi · October 25, 2017 6:10 pm

Federal Iraqi security forces gather outside the Kurdish hold City of Altun Kupri, outskirts of Irbil, Iraq, Thursday Oct. 19. 2017. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Beltway Confidential

Iraq may have just turned the corner from chaos to stability

Michael Rubin · October 24, 2017 4:01 am

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon at the Hudson Institute Monday expressed support for the countries that cut ties with Qatar in June after it was suspected Qatar had financially assisted terrorist groups. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Steve Bannon: Qatar is just as important as North Korea

Diana Stancy Correll · October 24, 2017 2:05 am

Protesters raised pink "stop Saudi terror" posters. Code Pink is a left-leaning women's organization that opposes U.S.-created wars. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Leon Panetta interrupted by Code Pink protesters: Watch

Anna Giaritelli · October 23, 2017 5:54 pm

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani before their meeting at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. The State Department said Tillerson's unannounced visit was to outline for them the Trump administration's new South Asia policy. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

Rex Tillerson: ‘Moderate voices’ in Taliban could end war

Washington Examiner · October 23, 2017 12:51 pm

Members of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) celebrate at stadium that was the site of Islamic State fighters' last stand in the city of Raqqa, Syria, Friday, Oct. 20, 2017. Syrian Kurdish-led forces backed by the U.S. declare victory in the devastated northern city of Raqqa days after it cleared it from members of the Islamic State group. (AP Photo/Asmaa Waguih)

Destruction of the Islamic State is not yet mission accomplished

Washington Examiner · October 22, 2017 4:01 am

Photos, documentaries, and other media capturing Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's elite Qods Force, push the message Iran's role is more pervasive and effective than it actually may be.

Beltway Confidential

Why is Iranian master terrorist Qassem Soleimani distributing photos of himself in Iraq?

Michael Rubin · October 20, 2017 9:04 pm

Militia women Thursday held a celebration in a liberated Raqqa, Syria after four years of occupation by the ISIS terrorist group, which had seen the city as the center of its global caliphate. (AP Photo/Gabriel Chaim)

National Security

US general declares ‘Raqqa is free’

Travis J. Tritten · October 20, 2017 2:57 pm

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert speaks during a briefing at the State Department in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

State Department: ‘Not aware’ of Iranian coordination with Iraq

Joel Gehrke · October 19, 2017 9:35 pm

With ISIS losing territory in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and the Philippines -- and especially after the loss of Raqqa -- its Caliphate is perceived for what it is: an increasingly pathetic patchwork of gangster-run settlements under constant attack. (AP Photo/Asmaa Waguih)

Beltway Confidential

ISIS just lost Raqqa — that’s a theological blow as well as a tactical one

Tom Rogan · October 18, 2017 4:52 pm

The group spent Monday and Tuesday meeting with officials from various law enforcement agencies and government officials in Holland and the European Union. (House Homeland Security Committee)

US lawmakers talk national security with Europeans during visit to Holland

Anna Giaritelli · October 18, 2017 4:46 pm