Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to discuss the situation in Iraq with a focus on al Qa’ida’s primary offshoot in Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Threat Posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) I will begin with a brief overview of the security situation in 2011 and 2012, as it is important to under... »
October 2014[edit] 1 October: The town of Taza Kharmatho was retaken by Peshmerga and Iraqi Army forces, but remained uninhabitable, due to the booby traps that had been left by ISIL.[295] 2 October: The Turkish Parliament voted 298:98 to authorize anti-ISIL operations, following concerns over ISIL advances close to Turkey’s borders. Turkey will allow foreign anti-ISIL military operations to... »
Note: The following is an excerpt from Perry's book, Unleashing the Beast, which can be ordered from the ministry. Named the butcher of Baghdad by the west, Saddam Hussein took control of Iraq in July 1979. A member of the Ba'athist party, Saddam's vi... »
