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Iraqi court hands down prison terms to 2 politicians and an oil official in graft case
BAGHDAD (AP) — An Iraqi court sentenced two prominent politicians and the head of a state-run enterprise responsible for distributing oil products to prison sentences in a corruption case, officials announced Thursday.
The Beclowning of Scott Bessent
One iron law of current politics is that nobody who associates themselves with Donald Trump emerges with a shred of credibility. For some, that’s not a big loss — it’s not as if anyone respected Pete Hegseth even before he decided that the key to military success in an age of drones and AI was more testosterone. For others, however, the costs are real. I’m old enough to remember when Marco Rubio was widely considered a reasonable, thoughtful politician. Right now, however, my candidate for the biggest loser is Scott Bessent, the Secretary of the Treasury. Bessent started out with significant reputation to lose: When Trump selected him, this was the headline in the Financial Times: Jason Furman, Barack Obama’s chief economist, described him as a “credible Treasury secretary who has a real understanding of the global economy”. But Bessent has now transformed himself into the Baghdad Bob of bonds. Three weeks ago, after intervening (for reasons that remain somewhat unclear) to support the Japanese yen, Bessent boasted about his ability to move markets and dared investors to bet against his, declaring “I am the house now.” He then tried to push long-term interest rates down, buying 30-year U.S. Treasuries in a move some have compared to paying down part of your mortgage by running up your credit card balance. Here’s how that’s going so far: To get some perspective on how high interest rates have gone, here’s a longer-term perspective: We haven’t seen interest rates this high since the fading days of the dotcom bubble. Why are interest rates hitting new records? The backdrop, as I argued in last Sunday’s primer, is the huge AI-driven investment boom; more on that next week. But the immediate cause of the latest interest rate spike was Trump’s rejection of an Iranian proposal to end the war. This rejection sent crude oil prices, which for a while had fallen considerably, shooting back up: It’s notable, by the way, that oil prices remain high even though a significant amount of oil is now being shuttled through the Strait of Hormuz by night, on smaller vessels. That’s an interesting story, which has a lot to do with the fact that oil from the Hormuz shuttle runs must be transferred to larger vessels before being shipped to markets in Europe and Asia; around 15 percent of the world’s large crude carriers are now parked off the coast of Oman, waiting to be tanked up. This is creating a shipping crunch: But that’s a topic for another day. For now, the point is that with oil still high and refined products, especially diesel, still close to record levels, inflation will remain elevated. And this in turn means that the Federal Reserve will keep short-term interest rates high, an expectation that is feeding into longer-term rates. Hence Bessent’s bond-market humiliation. The truth is that Bessent might not have been able to get interest rates down even in the best of circumstances. But he certainly won’t get anywhere as long as Trump keeps believing that he can somehow convert his Iran debacle into a triumphant victory. And Trump will keep believing that as long as he is surrounded by sycophants who tell him what he wants to hear. Sycophants like, for example, Scott Bessent, who is predicting the imminent collapse of the Iranian economy, possibly within two weeks. Bessent is right to say that the embargo on Iranian oil exports is placing the country under great economic strain. But his implicit prediction that this will quickly produce a deal that Trump can call victory looks no more plausible than his boasts about the bond market. The big question now is, why would anyone with a reputation to lose work for Donald Trump? As the beclowning of Bessent shows, joining the Trump team won’t just damage your reputation; it will utterly destroy it.
Photos show Baghdad Ballet Academy students taking the stage at Baghdad’s Al-Sinbad Theater
BAGHDAD (AP) — Students from Baghdad’s Ballet Academy performed a production titled “Mermaid” before an audience at Al-Sinbad Theater on Friday. Wearing colorful costumes, dancers of different ages presented solo and ensemble routines, moving through choreographed formations, leaps and turns...
Photos show Baghdad Ballet Academy students taking the stage at Baghdad's Al-Sinbad Theater
BAGHDAD (AP) — Students from Baghdad’s Ballet Academy performed a production titled “Mermaid” before an audience at Al-Sinbad Theater on Friday.
David Petraeus: George W. Bush, Political Courage, and the Surge in Iraq
In the wake of the September 11 attacks, President George W. Bush launched what he called the War on Terror. It began with the invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, which quickly toppled the Taliban and expelled al-Qaeda from its most crucial sanctuary. Then, in early 2003, American forces—with the support of foreign allies like the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland—attacked Iraq, toppling Saddam Hussein’s regime and installing an occupation force in hopes of quickly transforming the country into a free and democratic state. Instead, the post-regime coalition authority made significant missteps, and a devastating insurgency erupted. And despite President Bush’s 2004 reelection, the war quickly lost popular support among the American public. In early 2007, Bush appointed General David Petraeus, who had already served in Iraq as a two- and three-star general, to lead allied forces in Iraq, which heralded a sea change in American strategy known as “the surge.” As part of our coverage looking back on 9/11 and the world it created, General Petraeus tells the inside story of one of the most consequential moments in the War on Terror. The general’s essay today is both a crucial history and a profile in political courage. It demands reflection as we take stock of the last 25 years. —The Editors By the end of 2006, the war in Iraq was failing. There is no useful purpose in softening that judgment with the passage of time. The bombing of the al-Askari mosque in Samarra by terrorists that February had accelerated sectarian violence and pulled Iraq into an increasingly vicious Sunni-Shia civil war. Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Sunni insurgent groups controlled substantial areas, Shi’ite militias operated with growing impunity in other parts of the country, and the Iraqi security forces were no longer capable of arresting the downward spiral. The strategy of transitioning security responsibilities to Iraqi forces, consolidating American troops on large bases, and progressively reducing the U.S. presence had clearly been invalidated by the escalating violence. The numbers conveyed the horror imperfectly but unmistakably. In December 2006, an average of 53 Iraqi civilians were killed by violence every 24 hours in Baghdad alone. Washington, meanwhile, was approaching its own breaking point. Public support for the war had fallen dramatically, President George W. Bush’s Republican Party had just lost control of both houses of Congress, and the bipartisan Iraq Study Group—of which future defense secretary Robert Gates was a member—had recommended a course that anticipated a substantially reduced American combat role. Many senior military leaders were deeply skeptical of sending substantial additional forces, advocating instead for an accelerated transition to Iraqi forces, the deployment of additional trainers and advisers, or other more modest measures with an eye to withdrawing U.S. forces. Virtually every political incentive pointed toward reducing America’s commitment. President Bush chose instead to increase it, a decision that remains, in my view, one of the most courageous presidential decisions of the 21st century.
World Humanitarian Day 2026: honouring fallen humanitarians and calling for greater protection of health care
As we mark World Humanitarian Day on 19 August, WHO pays tribute to humanitarian and health workers who put their duty of care above their own safety and, too often, their own lives as they serve communities affected by conflict and crises.World Humanitarian Day was designated by the UN General Assembly in 2008 to commemorate the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad and honour aid workers worldwide.
‘We Love Iraq,’ Trump Tells New Prime Minister in Oval Office Meeting
The meeting comes as President Trump’s administration has been ratcheting up pressure on Baghdad to diminish Iran’s influence in Iraq.
Trump declares US military no longer needed in Iraq as Baghdad shifts course
President Donald Trump says Iran has been "very much destabilized," arguing Iraq no longer needs U.S. military presence as the coalition mission nears its end.
Iraqi Officials Arrested in Green Zone Corruption Raid, Deepening Political Tensions
Iraqi security forces arrested several senior political figures in a series of overnight raids inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.
Iran’s forever war: Deal or no deal, Iran’s challenge to America will outlast Trump
Shortly after I landed in Baghdad for the first time in January 2004, US intelligence services intercepted a letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s deputy, to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. The letter discussed the use of ruthless violence to establish an Islamic caliphate— first inside Iraq and ultimately across the broader Middle East.
Politics in a Parallel Universe: Iraq’s Leadership Crisis and the Iran War
The Iraqi government and the leaders of the country’s ruling political factions have every reason for alarm. The US–Israeli war on Iran—and its profound consequences for Iraq’s security, political stability, and economy—has produced a national crisis. Yet in Baghdad, political debate is still fixated on who will occupy which positions, what authority and resources they will control, and how to […]
Iraq elects Kurdish politician Nizar Amidi as president amid war fallout
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s parliament voted Saturday to elect Nizar Amidi, a political official with one of the country’s two main Kurdish parties, as president, five months after a parliamentary election that didn’t produce a bloc with a decisive majority.
American journalist Shelly Kittleson kidnapped in Baghdad
American journalist Shelly Kittleson was kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, sources and her media outlet said.
What’s Buried by Baghdad’s Construction Boom
The politics of rebuilding in a city of memories.