Bombings Hit Iraqi Capital of Baghdad and Kirkuk

Bombings in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and the northern city of Kirkuk killed at least 35 people Thursday. Four bombings targeted mostly Shiite district of Baghdad, including two car bombings in Sadr City, which killed 15 people and wounded 51 others, and a roadside bomb in the northern neighborhood of Shaab. Additionally, there was a bombing near the Green Zone. In the northern city of Kirkuk, either a car bomb or suicide bomber killed 15 people and wounded 20 others in the mainly Kurdish area of Shurja. Meanwhile, France said on Friday its fighters jets, as part of the U.S.-led coalition, were carrying out a “major raid” against Islamic State militants. U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Stuart Jones said Thursday that the United States had reached an agreement with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on “privileges and immunities” for the increasing number of U.S. troops based in Iraq as part of an “advise and assist” mission.

Syria

Amnesty International has criticized the international community for failing to host Syrian refugees. In a report released Friday, Amnesty cited that Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt are hosting around 3.8 million refugees from Syria, while the rest of the world has taken in only 1.7 percent of that number. The report has come a week after the U.N. World Food Program announced it was suspending its food voucher program due to lack of funding. Meanwhile, as Lebanese and Iraqi officials are continuing to disagree over the identity of a woman detained by the Lebanese army, Lebanese Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said DNA tests have confirmed that a young girl also in custody is Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s daughter.

Headlines

• The United States disclosed it led a failed mission in November to rescue Luke Somers, a U.S. journalist who is being held by al Qaeda in Yemen.
• A Bahraini court has sentenced opposition activist Zainab al-Khawaja to three years in prison for insulting the king, after she tore up a photo of King Hamad.
• Airstrikes hit outside the Libyan capital of Tripoli Thursday, while an additional strike was reported Friday morning near a border crossing with Tunisia.
• Brent crude prices continued to decline dropping to close to $69 a barrel Friday as Saudi Arabia cut selling prices.

Arguments and Analysis

‘From Raqqa to Derna: Exceptionalism in Expansionism’ (Evan Fowler, Jadaliyya)

“In early November, militants affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria took full control of the Libyan city of Derna, festooning government buildings with the familiar flag bearing the shahada and celebrating their victory over their opponents within the city. A coastal settlement of around 100,000, less than two hundred miles from the eastern city of Benghazi and hours from Tobruk, where the internationally-recognized House of Representative rules from, the loss of Derna aroused fears within the West of further Islamist and ISIS domination over restive and ungoverned Libya. As news outlets and Libyan watchers across the ideological divide pointed out, a bastion of ISIS power could be used as a spearhead into other parts of Libya and as a stronghold in an eastern Libyan emirate. Under the administration of the Islamic Youth Shura Council (Majlis shura shabab al-iIslam—MSSI), who manipulated the courts, governance structures, education and local media, Derna soon resembled ISIS’ capital of Raqqa, with hudud public executions, the vigilante enforcement of punishments for outlawed Islamic practices, assassinations of civic activists, and educational segregation.”

‘Can Independent Journalism and Free Speech Survive in the Arab World?’ (Rana Sabbagh, 7iber)

The lights of free speech are being steadily extinguished across the Arab world, heralding a new era of ignorance, intolerance and repression.

Saddest of all, the majority of Arabs — who saw free speech as the only gain from the Arab Spring upheavals – now seem willing to accept the loss of this universal human right, in return for promises of stability and economic prosperity.

The chaos across much of the region, with states collapsing in Libya, Yemen, Syria and Iraq, is emboldening leaders to restore the old order.

Security, not democracy, is now the top priority for a critical mass of Arabs. Gone are the popular slogans of the past four years: social justice, rule of law, ending endemic corruption, democratic values, the right to information and professional media.”

‘The Saudis Won’t Let Oil Free-Fall’ (Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Bloomberg View)

“All these reasons suggest that nobody should hold her breath for the Saudis to make a cut in production.  And, without a Saudi willingness, there will be no OPEC action.  In all likelihood, Saudi Arabia arrived at the OPEC meeting with no intention to cut production, which predetermined the outcome.

All that said, however, there is another important question: Will the Saudis be content to let the price of oil free-fall if supply-and-demand fundamentals continue to push it significantly downward?

The answer: Probably not.”

— Mary Casey-Baker

AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images