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Iraq

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The United States went to war in Iraq expecting to destroy an active weapons of mass destruction program. Instead, it found only remnants of chemical arms built in close collaboration with the West.|

Pres Obama says he will seek specific authorization from Congress for military campaign against Islamic State militants, opening door to lengthy, potentially contentious debate over nature and extent of American engagement in Iraq and Syria; announcement represents significant shift from Obama's earlier position that he had legal authority to take military action under existing statutes.|

A list of resources from around the Web about Iraq as selected by researchers and editors of The New York Times.|

Members of embattled Iraqi unit in Anbar Province are forced to use cellphones in an attempt to resupply ahead of clash with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, but frantic effort fails and many soldiers are forced to abandon their base and run; situation illuminates glaring weaknesses of the Iraqi Army and its chain of command as it struggles to counter ISIS insurgents.|

Photos from South Korea, Sri Lanka, Iraq and Zimbabwe.|

United Nations panel urges Security Council to order all countries to seize oil trucks coming in and out of territory controlled by jihadists in Iraq and Syria and to impose global moratorium on sale of antiquities from those countries; both oil and antiquities are thought to be vital sources of financing for groups that call themselves the Islamic State and the Nusra Front.|

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria release video in which British hostage journalist John Cantlie warns the West that its intervention in Iraq is just the start of another war.|

The victories gained by the militant group calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria were built on months of maneuvering along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.|

Editorial cautions Iraq's newly configured government of Prime Min Haider al-Abadi may not prove to be dependable ally that Obama administration hopes it will be in military operation there; holds Iraqi government is unlikely to win trust of all segments of country needed to isolate Islamic State in Iraq and Syria; warns if government does not bring about cooperation, American military will find itself once again defending a self-destructive Iraqi state.|

Spotty intelligence, poor weather and lack of urgency from Iraqi Army and Kurdish forces are limiting targets and pace of American-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Islamic State; so far, campaign has averaged fewer than five airstrikes a day in both Iraq and Syria.|

Op-Ed article by Prof Fredrik Logevall and author Gordon M Goldstein questions whether Pres Obama will allow America to be drawn into situation in Iraq and Syria similar to country's involvement in Vietnam; compares initial reluctance and political pressures faced by Pres Lyndon Johnson to those encountered by Obama; holds that Obama's gloomy realism may not save him from ill-advised military action, particularly once he has started down slippery slope of intervention.|

The United States went to war in Iraq expecting to destroy an active weapons of mass destruction program. Instead, it found only remnants of chemical arms built in close collaboration with the West.|

Turkish Prime Min Ahmet Davutoglu and Iraq’s new Prime Min Haider al-Abadi meet in Baghdad as part of intensifying regional effort to forge new alliances against Islamic State militants; leadership, which is meeting in Iraq for first time in four years, appears ready to put longstanding regional conflicts aside, agreeing to share intelligence and potentially work together militarily.|

A list of resources from around the Web about Iraq as selected by researchers and editors of The New York Times.|

A visual guide to the crisis in Iraq and Syria.|

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