Pentagon says Iraqi flight ban won’t impact US military assistance to Kurds - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Jack Detsch

Jack Detsch

Oct 25, 2017

A plane is seen at the Erbil International Airport in Erbil, Iraq September 29, 2017. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RC18C8941C40 — A plane is seen at Erbil International Airport in Erbil, Iraq, Sept. 29, 2017. — REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

Peshmerga forces stand in line to vote during Kurds independence referendum in Sheikh Amir village, Iraq September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - RC1B631DEAD0

Pentagon stops paying peshmerga salaries amid Kurdish independence backlash

Jack Detsch

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters gather north of Kirkuk, Iraq October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed - RC1244BF1E20

Pentagon stops budgeting for peshmerga salaries

Jack Detsch

Kurdish Peshmarga forces are seen near Altun Kupri, between Kirkuk and Erbil, Iraq October 20, 2017. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC18B4882C00

Iraqi Kurdish fighters dealt setback in Pentagon budget

Jack Detsch

TOPSHOT - A Syriac Christian militiaman stands guard on top of a building during an easter ceremony at the Saint John's church (Mar Yohanna) in the nearly deserted predominantly Christian Iraqi town of Qaraqosh (also known as Hamdaniya), some 30 kilometres from Mosul, on April 16, 2017.
Qaraqosh was retaken by Iraqi forces late in 2016 as part of a massive offensive to wrest back the nearby city of Mosul from Islamic State (IS) group fighters but it remains almost completely deserted.
/ AFP PHOTO / CHRIST

Congress fuels Christian rivalries with bid to arm Iraqi militias

In Washington, reporting on Congress