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With Adam Rawnsley

Gulf hack. The hack of Qatari government Web sites earlier this year was carried out by the United Arab Emirates, and not Russia, as had initially been suspected. The revelation which will likely only deepen the diplomatic row between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors comes after Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other countries slapped an economic blockade on the tiny Gulf monarchy.

U.S. officials who described the latest twist to the Washington Post said theyre unsure whether the UAE carried out the hacks itself or contracted the job out. The hacks took place on May 24, just after President Trump sat down with Persian Gulf leaders in neighboring Saudi Arabia and declared them unified. The UAE on Monday officially denied responsibility.

Iran won the Iraq war. After the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Tehran saw an opportunity to use the chaos that resulted to increase its own influence in the region. And their plan appears to have worked, the New York Times reports. Iran has for years planted friendly ministers inside the Iraqi parliament and government agencies, and is training Iraqi Shiite militias to fight ISIS in Iraq, and for the Syrian government over the border.

Consider this: At some border posts in the south, Iraqi sovereignty is an afterthought. Busloads of young militia recruits cross into Iran without so much as a document check. They receive military training and are then flown to Syria, where they fight under the command of Iranian officers in defense of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. Iran is also training thousands of Afghan fighters to battle in Syria.

Secret Service pushes back on Trump lawyer. This is awkward. The U.S. Secret Service on Sunday firmly denied a statement from President Donald Trumps personal lawyer that its agents vetted a meeting between the presidents son and Russian nationals during the 2016 campaign, in which the Russians claiming to represent the Kremlin promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Secret Service spokesman Mason Brayman said later in the day that Trump Jr. was not under Secret Service protection at the time of the meeting, which included Trumps son and two senior campaign officials. Whelp.

Elsewhere, the New York Times profiled one of the Russians who were in the room with Trump Jr., campaign head Paul Manafort, and son in law and advisor Jared Kushner. They did the same with another Russian tied to the burgeoning scandal.

Civilian casualties spike under Trump. A new report from a researcher with independent watchdog Airwars claims that civilian casualties in Iraq have risen to an average of 12 per day since January, or 360 a month. Under the Obama administration, the average was about 80 a month.

More bad news in Syria. Turkish-backed rebels battled with Kurdish fighters from the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in northwestern Syria on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. Things had been somewhat quiet in the area around Aleppo for the past several weeks, where an uneasy calm has prevailed.

Strikes. The U.S. killed the leader of the Islamic States Afghan affiliate in a drone strike early last week, the Pentagon announced on Friday. Defense Secretary James Mattis described the death of ISIS-K leader Abu Sayed as obviously a victory on our side in terms of setting them back. The U.S. had killed the groups two previous leaders, Hafiz Sayed Khan and Abdul Hasib, in strikes carried out over the past year.

Welcome to SitRep. Send any tips, thoughts or national security events to paul.mcleary@foreignpolicy.com or via Twitter: @paulmcleary or @arawnsley.

American intelligence officials tell the Washington Post that the United Arab Emirates was behind the hack of a Qatari state news agency that posted fake quotes from Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani praising Hamas and Iran. Americans spies picked up information on Emirati officials discussing the plan to plant the fake quotes in the website on May 23, shortly before the hack.

Art of the deal. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Syrian ceasefire that President Trumps agreed to with Russia is a bad deal in a rare public break with the Trump administration, according to Haarertz. Israel had insisted that any ceasefire deal include provisions to keep Iranian-backed forces away from the Israeli border, prevent Iran from fortifying its position in Syria, and not allow Russian troops to produce buffer zones.

Human rights. Locals along the banks of the Tigris are seeing a steady stream of bound human bodies of military-age men floating outside Mosul, raising fears of summary executions by Iraqi forces in the wake of Mosuls liberation. Freelance reporter Fazel Hawramy has been monitoring Iraqi social media pages and highlighted video showing Iraqi forces torturing and abusing alleged Islamic State members in Mosul.

Observers. The Defense Department tested a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery last week in order to demonstrate to North Korea that the system, currently deployed in South Korea, can knock down ballistic missiles. But the THAAD test had another observer, according to CNN. North American Aerospace Defense Command tells the cable news channel that a Chinese spy ship showed up in international waters off the coast of Alaska.

Retaliation. Russia is raising the temperature over its diplomatic feud with the U.S. over the Obama administration expulsion of alleged Russian spies. If the U.S. doesnt return a seized Russian diplomatic compound and allow an increase in the number of Russian diplomats in America, Kremlin mouthpiece Dmitry Kiselev recently said, U.S. diplomats will be expelled, and those who remain behind will be harassed.

Trouble in the alliance. NATO is trying to nudge Germany and Turkey to cooperate after Germany began pulling its troops from Incirlik Air Base following a diplomatic dispute with Ankara. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the two countries should have their foreign ministers meet for a sit down to resolve their differences following Germanys refusal to extradite Turkish asylum seekers that Turkey accuses of participating in last year coup attempt and Turkeys refusal to allow German members of parliament to visit troops at Incirlik.

Heatwave. Summer heat got you down? It could be worse. American U-2 spy planes supporting the anti-Islamic State fight are watching their tail wheels melt on the runway because temperatures in the Middle East are so high right now.

Afghanistan. Army Maj. Gen. Robin Fontes is now commander of Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, giving her the highest position of any American female officer.

Iran. Iran jails Chinese-American Xiyue Wan, accusing the Princeton University academic of espionage charges. The U.S. State Department calls the charges fabricated.

Shes a rainbow. Chinas Cai Hong (rainbow) series of armed drones has taken the export market by storm, with the CH-4 model proving especially popular among customers in the Middle East. This week, the newest member of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporations Cai Hong drone family, the CH-5, underwent flight trials in Hebei Province and might soon be showing up in the skies over Middle Eastern conflicts.

Turkey. Turkey has carried out its first drone strike in combat, using its domestically-built Anka drone to fire a missile at members of the PKK terrorist group in eastern Anatolia, reportedly killing five.

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Situation Report: How Iran Won Iraq War; Secret Service Vs. Trump Team - Foreign Policy (blog)

Fort Blisss 1st Armored Division took command of land operations in Iraq last week as part of an effort to combat the Islamic State extremist group and train Iraqi security forces.

The Army has deployed 400 soldiers from the 1st Armored Division headquarters at Fort Bliss to join more than 5,000 U.S. troops and an international coalition to train, equip and advise Iraqi security forces. Pockets of ISIS remain in Iraq days after the defeat of the militants in Mosul, a major city in Iraq.

Our soldiers are trained and ready for this mission. (Islamic State) is a desperate enemy, said Lt. Col. Crystal Boring, a public affairs officer with the 1st Armored Division. She spoke to El Paso Inc. by phone from Baghdad.

Fort Bliss commander Maj. Gen. Robert P. White will oversee operations in Iraq for nine months and will lead the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command.

White replaces Maj. Gen. Joseph Martin, commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division in Fort Riley, Kansas.

The division has trained for months in anticipation of deploying to Iraq. Their mission is part of Operation Inherent Resolve, which started in 2014 when the U.S. military formally launched its efforts to combat the Islamic State group, also known as ISIL and ISIS.

As part of their efforts, the U.S. and international forces have provided weapons and trained more than 60,000 Iraqis.

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a total victory in the city of Mosul, which has been a stronghold for ISIS. According to news reports, half of the citys population has been displaced and thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed.

Lt. Col. Boring said citizens are happy, having been freed by the U.S. led coalition. She said Islamic State continues to disrupt efforts to stabilize the country.

According to news accounts, U.S. and coalition forces have reportedly continued to launch airstrikes against the remnants of Islamic State fighters south of Mosul.

Email El Paso Inc. reporter Aaron Montes at amontes@elpasoinc.com or call (915) 534-4422, ext. 105. Twitter: @aaronmontes91

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1st Armored Division takes command in Iraq - El Paso Inc.

BARTELLA, Iraq (Reuters) - Their husbands, sons and brothers are dead, but the women and children Islamic State militants left behind will live to pay the price for their actions.

As Islamic State's days of ruling over vast swathes of Iraq come to an end, questions are emerging about what to do with their families.

For now, many of them are effectively imprisoned in a rubbish strewn encampment east of Mosul, where the last people to be displaced from the city have been taken.

"All the men were killed," said 62 year-old Umm Hamoudi, who fled the Midan district last week with 21 members of her family -- all women and children.

Her husband, an Islamic State member, was wounded in the fighting for the Old City. They tried to carry him off the battlefield but he was too heavy, so they said goodbye and left him there to die.

Displaced civilians are returning home to rebuild their lives, but those who suffered three years of extreme violence and privation under Islamic State say the militants' relatives have no place among them.

Leaflets threatening militants' families have appeared in areas retaken from Islamic State, and vigilantes have thrown grenades at their homes.

"Revenge is not a cure," said Ali Iskander, the head of the Bartella district where the camp is located. "These families should undergo rehabilitation courses"

Local authorities in Mosul recently issued a decree to exile Islamic State families to camps so they can be rehabilitated ideologically.

But rights groups say collective punishment undermines the prospects for reconciliation after Islamic State, and risks fostering a generation of outcasts with no stake in Iraq.

"If we isolate them, how will we bring them back into the fold of the nation?" said a local official visiting the camp on Saturday. "They will become Daesh".

Umm Hamoudi's daughter was only 14 years old when her father married her off to an Islamic State militant.

He too was killed around one year ago while the girl was pregnant with her first child, who lay sleeping on the floor of the tent, oblivious to the stigma that will likely cloud the rest of his life.

Umm Suhaib, 32, last heard from her husband two months ago. "He is certainly dead," she said, showing no emotion.

She threatened to leave him when he joined Islamic State around one year after the group took over, but did not because of their four children.

A devout Muslim, her husband was seduced by the idea of a modern-day caliphate, and offered his skills as an engineer in service of Islamic State's state-building project. He came to regret his decision, Umm Suhaib said, but by then it was too late. "He wasted his life and threw ours away with it," she said. "We are lost now".

Like other women whose male relatives joined Islamic State, Umm Suhaib said she was powerless to stop him.

"I have no authority over them," 50 year-old Fatima Shihab Ahmed said of her two brothers who joined the group. She believes one of them is still alive in the militant-held city of Tel Afar, which Iraqi forces plan to assault next.

Ahmed is also a suspect herself: a neighbor's son accused her of working for Islamic State's morality police known as the Hisba, which punished women who broke the militants' strict dress code. She denies it.

None of Umm Yousif's close male relatives joined Islamic State, she said. She was separated from her wounded husband as they fled the Midan district last week and believes he was taken to a hospital after being screened by Iraqi security forces for links with the militants.

"Maybe he is dead. Perhaps he is alive," she said, pleading to be allowed out of the camp so she could look for him.

"They say 'you are all Daesh', but we are not. Even if we were, what is it to do with women and children? Each person is responsible for himself."

Continued here:
As Islamic State militants routed in Iraq, their families fear reprisals - Reuters

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) used his experience as an Iraq War veteran to respond to a comment a Fox News anchor made suggesting the Trump family has done more for the country than any Democrat.

Totally remember the Trump brothers laying down suppressive fire for me in Anbar, Gallego tweeted Sunday.

Totally remember the Trump brothers laying down suppressive fire for me in Anbar. https://t.co/P2O7ysBIGA

Gallego was responding to a statement made by Jesse Watters, a host of Fox News programs The Five and Watters World.

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Donald TrumpDonald TrumpLawyer say Trump Jr. was 'fully prepared' to speak about Russia meeting Overnight Cybersecurity: White House says 'cyber unit' with Russia wouldn't share intel | Colorado moves to audit digital voting | Top State Department cyber official leaving | Dow Jones customer data exposed Trump budget is an attack on the nations poor children MORE's family has done more for this country than any Democratic elected official, Watters said last Thursday.

Gallego has come out against President Trump in the past, criticizinghispolicies about veterans and calling him out for comparing his attendance ofa military academy to serving in the armed forces.

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Iraq vet lawmaker mocks Fox host over Trump family praise | TheHill - The Hill

Secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani (R) shakes hands with deputy secretary general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Kosrat Rasul Ali, in Tehran on July 17, 2017. (Photo by IRNA)

A senior Iranian official has warned that a plan by Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to hold an independence referendum will weaken the entire Arab country.

Secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani made the comment in a meeting in Tehran on Monday with deputy secretary general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Kosrat Rasul Ali, and the Chief of the Executive Body of the PUKs Political Bureau, Mala Bakhtiar.

Shamkhani said the independence plan would in fact put pressure on and isolateIraqi Kurds and weaken Kurdistan and eventuallyall of Iraq.

The Iranian official added that the plan wentagainstthe policies and initiatives of the Iraqi officials and wasnot a priority and requirement of the countrys people.

Shamkhani further noted that certain regional and extra-regional countries sought to undermine Iraq and big countries in the Middle East, stressing that such arrogant plots should be thwarted by remaining vigilant and paying attention to the interests of the nation and those of the Muslim world.

He said the Islamic Republic wishes security, economic development and prosperity for people, parties and groups in the north of Iraq whose realizationwould prevent the activities and spread of terrorist groups.

The president of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, Masoud Barzani, announced on Twitter in June that the northern territory would hold an independence referendum on September 25 not only in the three provinces that make up the Kurdish region, but also in the areas that were bone of contention between the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and the central government in Baghdad.

After the announcement, the Iraqi government issued a statement in response that it would reject any unilateral move by Kurdish regional authorities to press for independence.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on June 13 that the Kurdish minority's decision to hold an independence referendum wasuntimely.

"Every part of Iraq has aspirations and has a dream, and we respect that, even if we disagree with it. We live in one homeland and they are our partners," Abadi said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the SNSC secretary further pointed to the liberation of the Iraqi northern city of Mosul from the grip of Daesh Takfiri terrorist group and said it would herald a better future for an integrated Iraq and foil foreign plots aimed at creatinga divisionin the country.

A secure, stable and united Iraq promotes the countrys sustainable security, stability and progress and friendly countries to Iraq and its well-wishers must support such an approach, Shamkhani pointed out.

Delivering a formal statement aired by the state television on July 10, the Iraqi premier formally declared the victory of the countrys forces over the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Mosul, one day after Iraqi military and Popular Mobilization Forces took full control of the city.

The recapture of Mosul marks the biggest blow to the Takfiri extremist group since it declared its so-called caliphate three years ago.

Iran avertedsecurity disaster in Kurdistan

Rasul Ali, for his part, said Iran hadalways played a leading role in supporting Kurdistan, particularly in countering Daesh terrorists, and prevented a security disaster in this region.

He said the Islamic Republic and the Kurdistan region haddeep-rooted and historical bonds.

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Kurdish independence plan will weaken Iraq: Iranian official - Press TV