Under construction: the new building for the Central Bank of Iraq, designed by the late British-Iraq architect Zaha Hadid.

America & democracy do not easily coexist.

Baghdad Bombing Could Test Biden’s Appetite To Confront Da’ish | By H. Sumeri 1001iraqithoughts.com/2021/01/21/bag…

For context, today’s heinous terrorist attack took place in the سوق البالة or the second hand clothing market. Both the buyers & sellers in this market represent our most economically vulnerable. Now 100+ families have to deal with unimaginable grief + the loss of breadwinners.

Hoshyar Zebari, who served for over a decade as foreign minister, seems to be under the impression that the Democratic Party is a party made up exclusively of white Americans

Ali Al-Mawlawi Was he sober when he interviewed?

Baghdad, as magical as Aladdin’s lamp.

Ministry of Health SMS letting me know that my Covid-19 vaccine appointment is tmrw.

Names of the dead: 1- Ali Abu Hatab, 5 years old 2- Bilal Alaa Abu Hatab, 10 years old 3- Youssef Alaa Abu Hatab, 11 years old 4-Yasmine Mohamed Hassan, 31 Female 5-Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al-Hadidi 8 6-Suhaib Muhammad Al-Hadidi 14 7-Maha Muhammad Al-Hadidi, 36 Female

Ahmed AlMansi had a popular YouTube channel with his daughters Sarah & Hala about their life in #Gaza. In one video he tries to distract his terrified girls from the airstrikes with toys. It would his last. Ahmed was killed in airstrikes over the weekend independent.co.uk/news/world/mid…

Double honour for me to host the Iraqi Voices Podcast and to speak with LA Times Staff Foreign Correspondent in the Middle East @NabihBulos on the shift in media portrayals of the Palestinian cause and how Iraqis can support it. Check it out:

30 years later and we are still unearthing (literally) the crimes of Saddam and his criminal gangs.

As per usual, local Iraqi (Arabic & Kurdish) media coverage is minimal if at all existent on this. The local media, almost entirely controlled by current political parties, has failed us. Then we wonder why Iraq’s youth are nostalgic about this dark era.

On the issue of Saddam nostalgia, be sure to read @MarsinRA’s 2018 piece for War on the Rocks to understand its seriousness: warontherocks.com/2018/07/author…

Mosul, 4 years difference.

Anyone who's spent any time exposed to government in Iraq will find a lot of resonance with this thread. There are no easy solutions to fixing Iraq's problems, just lots of vexing questions to try to answer.

"Now, more than ever I believe, Iraqis need the ability to be able to think critically about their country, the region and what they want their futures to look like." Agreed. I would add: being able to listen properly and entertain an idea without necessarily agreeing with it.

#LIVFCP

If only Iraqis were given the same praise for rallying around the flag to defend their land from an invading terrorist group committing genocide inside Iraq. Instead we had “unbiased” analysis of why ISIS could invade & journalists refusing to use the word liberate for ISF.