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Iraqi PM Declares End of ISIS 'Caliphate' in Iraq as Mosul Falls NBCNews.com Iraqi PM Declares End of ISIS 'Caliphate' in Iraq as Mosul Falls. Fri, Jun 30. Iraqi troops re-claimed the heart of Mosul on Thursday, ending an 8-month campaign to retake the city from ISIS militants. Official warned, however, that pockets of ISIS ... Iraq shouldn't count out the Islamic State caliphate just yetWashington Examiner Iraq's most house-proud man sweeps away the detritus of war in MosulThe Sydney Morning Herald Iraq PM thanks top Shia cleric Ayatollah Sistani for role in anti-Islamic State warHindustan Times Post Register -Buenos Aires Herald all 111 news articles »

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Iraqi PM Declares End of ISIS 'Caliphate' in Iraq as Mosul Falls - NBCNews.com

Local Iraq veteran detained, may be deported

Maggie Vespa , KGW 6:06 PM. PDT June 30, 2017

Chong Kim (Photo: KGW)

PORTLAND, Ore. -- As millions prepare to celebrate Americas Independence Day, local veterans are sounding the alarm about one of their own.

Friends of Chong Hwan Kim say the 42-year-old Iraq War veteran was picked up by ICE authorities in early April and has been held in a federal detention center in Tacoma ever since.

Born in South Korea, they say Kim and his parents came to the United States legally when he was 5 years old.

He grew up in the Portland area. Years ago, they say he joined the Army National Guard.

He deserves better, said Perry Gastineau, who served alongside Kim in Iraq.

Chong Hwan Kim (Photo: KGW)

Gastineau said both men, like many there, saw horrific things. He said Kim suffered from PTSD when he came home and racked up a criminal record, including a felony count of attempted arson. That charge, his most recent, came in early 2016.

Since then,Gastineau said Kim had done his best to turn his life around.

He had kind of worked around it to be on a better path, or so I thought. So, I mean, it's really sad to see something from the past come up and bite him when he was trying to do better, he said.

On Friday, Rose M. Riley from the Immigration and Customs Enforcements Seattle Field Office would not confirm details about Kims immigration status, but sent the following statement about his case.

"Chong Hwan Kim is a South Korean national who was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) April 5 after it was determined he has a prior felony conviction in Multnomah County for attempt to commit arson in the first degree, among other charges. Mr. Kim remains in ICE detention at this time while his immigration case undergoes review by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the Department of Justice agency which administers the nation's immigration courts."

U.S. Navy veteran Jordan Meyers, who met Kim through a local PTSD support group, said the logic doesnt hold.

If you're willing to sacrifice your life potentially, if you're willing to write that blank check, payable up to and including your life to the United States of America, I feel like you've earned the right to live in the United States of America, he said.

Watch: Veteran reacts to Kim being detained

Meyers and other friends set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for Kims legal fees.

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Local Iraq War veteran detained by ICE, may be deported | KGW.com - kgw.com

The military defeat of the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq should herald a new, peaceful era for the country, with the resettlement of thousands of displaced families and the rebuilding of towns and cities. Instead, a dark autumn cloud has appeared on the horizon in the form of an independence referendum to be held in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq on 25 September.

The Iraqi Kurdish leadership insists that the vote is designed to measure the desire of the Kurds for independence, rather than trigger an automatic process leading to statehood. Nevertheless, the whole subject of the Kurds seeking their own state is an extremely sensitive one for the federal government in Baghdad.

The federal authorities oppose on principle any move that threatens the territorial integrity of the Iraqi state. Even more so since the proposed Kurdish independence region includes disputed territoryin particular the oil-rich region of Kirkuk. The Kirkuk oilfield and close by Bai Hassan field, which came under Kurdish control in 2014, provide around 380,000 barrels a day of output for the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), more than its half total production (600,000 b/d).

Kirkuk represents a red line for the KRG as much as it does for the government in Baghdad. Iraqi Kurds describe Kirkuk as their 'Jerusalem'.

In the view of the president of the Kurdish region, Masoud Barzani, writing recently in the Washington Post, "Kurdistan's case for independence is compelling" as the Kurds missed out on statehood after World War One when the territories of the defeated Ottoman empire were divided up into new nations.

In later times, he continued, "the newly established state of Iraq was supposed to be an equal partnership between Arabs and Kurds. That hopeful dream soon gave way to a grim reality. All Iraqi governments suppressed the Kurds".

The likelihood is that the referendum planned for September will go ahead and may well show majority support for statehood, but it won't all be plain sailing because of intra-Kurdish political disputes. Not all groups back the joint decision of Barzani's Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) to call for a vote.

Even within the PUK some say the time isn't right, while the opposition Goran movement, which received more votes than the PUK in the most recent elections, accuses the KDP of using the referendum for domestic political advantage. The Kurdistan Islamic Group has also questioned Barzani's motives.

At the same time, Iran and Turkey, with sizeable Kurdish minorities of their own, are uneasy at the idea of Turkish Kurds achieving statehood. The KRG needs to be wary of Turkey, for nearly all its oil exports are piped across the east of that country to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast. Turkish companies have invested heavily in the Iraqi Kurds' energy and economic sectors, and the two sides have signed an agreement for the cross-border supply of Kurdish natural gas.

So the stakes are high on a number of fronts. Iraqis will be hoping that Kurdish leaders think over all the implications carefully before pushing the button for independence. Iraq has been living under one dark cloud or another for too long and a military clash over Kirkuk might be the last straw for many.

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Iraq: more clouds ahead - Petroleum Economist

An Iraqi soldier stands inside a compound ISIS used as a prison in Mosul. Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters

Agriculture is not an unimportant source of income for them, he told NBC News.

Woertz explained that ISIS had previously been able to seize the wages of civil servants who lived in militant-held zones but were still being paid government wages. However, Iraq had ended the practice of paying wages into ISIS-controlled areas, cutting off a revenue stream to the militants.

It is also not a winning brand anymore, Woertz said. When it was gaining control of areas it had an image of invincibility for a little while or was able to project that image on social media but now it is a losing brand that attracts less overseas support in the form of donations.

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As far as they want to be a state, they have failed, or are about to fail, Woertz said.

However, despite ISIS's "caliphate" project appearing increasingly unsustainable, experts warned that conditions in the region were still ripe for Islamist violence.

"A great deal will depend on effective governance in areas [liberated from ISIS]," said Butter of Chatham House. "But it is still quite a mess. There are a lot of people pushing ISIS-style ideology and they may find some receptiveness in Iraq if the country continues to be governed in the way it has been.

"ISIS as weve known it is looking very much on the way out, but something else could replace it," he added. "The ideology behind it is quite virulent.

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ISIS Revenue Falls 80 Percent as Militants Lose Ground in Iraq, Syria - NBCNews.com

Canada has about 200 special forces soldiers operating in northern Iraq, supported by a combat hospital, a helicopter detachment, a surveillance plane and an air-to-air refueling aircraft. Photograph: Valda Kalnina/EPA

Canada is extending its military mission against the Islamic State group in Iraq for another two years, the countrys defense minister announced Thursday.

Harjit Sajjan left open the possibility of ramping up the offensive, saying the military would deploy capabilities as needed.

The coalition has made significant progress in the fight against Daesh in Mosul, Sajjan said in a statement, using the Arabic name for the group.

As the situation evolves, coalition allies and partners must remain flexible and adapt to changing threats.

Implicit in the announcement is a rejection of accusations by opposition parties that Justin Trudeaus government has been waging a secret war in Iraq without parliamentary approval.

Canada has about 200 special forces soldiers operating in northern Iraq supported by a combat hospital, a helicopter detachment, a surveillance plane and an air-to-air refueling aircraft.

Critics questioned the governments claim that Canada had undertaken a non-combat advise and assist role in Iraq after it was revealed earlier this month that a Canadian special forces sniper had killed an Isis fighter.

I can tell you that defending our allies in the coalition has been an integral part of our mission, Trudeau said on Tuesday.

This is completely in keeping with our responsibilities as Canadians, as members of the coalition in northern Iraq, and it will continue to be that way, he said.

For Sajjan, Canadian operations in Iraq are consistent with a recent defense policy review that made very clear Canadas readiness and willingness to do its part for the global community, including confronting security issues that threaten our shores and those of our allies and partners.

Trudeaus Liberals withdrew six Canadian fighter jets from the coalition in 2016, fulfilling a campaign promise, but tripled the number of military trainers in Iraq to 210.

Hundreds of ground personnel were also deployed to support two surveillance aircraft and a refueling jet, as well as a handful of tactical helicopters.

The mission extension to the end of March 2019 the same year Trudeau goes to the polls to seek a second mandate allows for a total number of 850 soldiers tasked to the coalition.

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Canada commits to fight against Isis in Iraq for another two years - The Guardian