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Obama offers Iraq $200 million in humanitarian aid

By Dave Boyer - The Washington Times

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi arrived last week to distribute weapons and support security forces and Sunni volunteers at a camp in Habaniyah, west of Baghdad. After victory against Islamic State militants in the city of Tikrit, Iraq set sights on western Anbar province for its second major counteroffensive against the Islamic State. (Associated Press)

Iraq may follow U.S. Marines’ blueprint to defeat Islamic State in Anbar

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

Iraqi security forces deploy in Tikrit, 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, a day after Iraqi security forces backed by Shiite militiamen took control of the city from Islamic State militants in this Thursday, April 2, 2015, file photo. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

Iraqi teams start exhuming mass grave of soldiers in Tikrit

By Sinan Salaheddin - Associated Press

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi tours the city of Tikrit after it was retaken by the security forces in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 1, 2015. Iraq declared a "magnificent victory" over the Islamic State group in Tikrit, a key step in driving the militants out of their biggest strongholds. (AP Photo)

Iraq declares victory over Islamic State group in Tikrit

By Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer N. Yacoub - Associated Press

Iraqi Security Forces and allied Shiite militiamen were struggling against Islamic State fighters to retake Tikrit until U.S. air power helped pave the way. (Associated Press)

Iraq war planners urge U.S. military presence once Islamic State is defeated

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

The offensive to retake Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit from Islamic State jihadis is being closely monitored by those in nearby Mosul, as Tikrit's fate may determine Mosul's destiny as well. (Associated Press)

Mosul waits for battle against Islamic State with hope and anxiety

By Ammar Al Shamary and Gilgamesh Nabeel — Special to The Washington Times

Iraqi forces clashed with Islamic State militants in the Qadisiyah neighborhood of Tikrit on Thursday. Iraq's defense minister said the operation to retake Tikrit is "essential to opening a corridor" for Baghdad-aligned forces to move north toward Mosul. (Associated Press)

Tikrit offensive vital in reversing Islamic State gains in Iraq and Syria, analysts say

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

In this still image taken from video a soldier fires from behind a building in Tikrit, Iraq on Wednesday, March 11, 2015. Iraqi soldiers and Shiite militiamen entered the Islamic State-held city of Tikrit on Wednesday, authorities said, breaching one of the biggest strongholds of the extremists in a key test for Iraqi forces. (AP Photo)

Iraqi soldiers, militiamen enter Islamic State-held Tikrit

By Sameer N. Yacoub - Associated Press

FILE - In this July 27, 2005 file photo, a temple to the Shamash sun god still stands over 1,750 years after the Sassanian empire razed the Mesopotamian city of Hatra, 320 kilometers (200 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq's minister of tourism and antiquities told The Associated Press, Saturday, March 7, 2015, that the government is investigating reports that the ancient archaeological site of Hatra in northwestern Iraq is being demolished by militants from the Islamic State group. The group has already looted artifacts from Nimrud, another ancient archaeological site, on Friday and bulldozed it in a move UNESCO deemed &quot;a war crime.&quot; (AP Photo/Antonio Castaneda, File)

IS destroying another ancient archaeological site in Iraq

By SAMEER N. YACOUB and VIVIAN SALAMA - Associated Press

Italian Carabinieri keep alert as they guard the new exhibition of Iraqi treasures in the National Museum in Baghdad, on Thursday, July 3, 2003. The Iraqi National Museum briefly opened its doors to the press Thursday. Looting at the museum provoked an international outcry after Baghdad fell on April 9, but U.S. occupation authorities say many of the museum's most important items including the world-famous treasures of Nimrud have been accounted for. Still, scores of items remain missing, said museum director Donny George. The museum won't open to the public for about two years, George said. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)

Iraq says Islamic State militants ‘bulldozed’ ancient site

By Vivian Salama - Associated Press

In this image made from video, smoke rises from an explosion as Iraqi forces, Shiite militiamen and Sunni tribal fighters battle Islamic State militants for control of Tikrit, Iraq, Tuesday, March 3, 2015. Backed by Shiite militias and Sunni tribal fighters as well as Iranian advisers, the government forces made little progress on the second day of a large-scale military operation to recapture Tikrit, which fell to the Islamic State group last summer, two local officials said. (AP Photo via AP video)

Mines, bombs slow Iraqi advance on Islamic State-held Tikrit

By Sinan Salaheddin and Sameer N. Yacoub - Associated Press

Iraqi Hezbollah fighters carry the coffin of their comrade, Ali Mansour, who his family says was killed in Tikrit fighting Islamic militants, during his funeral procession, in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 2, 2015. Backed by allied Shiite and Sunni fighters, Iraqi security forces on Monday began a large-scale military operation to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown from the Islamic State extremist group, state TV said, a major step in a campaign to reclaim a large swath of territory in northern Iraq controlled by the militants. (AP Photo/Jaber al-Helo)

U.S. won’t provide airstrikes for Iraqi offensive against Islamic State: Pentagon

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

Iraqi Hezbollah fighters carry the coffin of their comrade, Ali Mansour, who his family says was killed in Tikrit fighting Islamic militants, during his funeral procession, in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 2, 2015. (AP Photo/Jaber al-Helo)

Iraq launches operation to retake Tikrit from Islamic State

By Sinan Salaheddin - Associated Press

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (right) is courting a longer stay by U.S. troops, whom he thanks for their sacrifices. Last month, he stood shoulder to shoulder at the presidential palace with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. (Associated Press)

Haider al-Abadi of Iraq, Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan amenable U.S. war partners

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

In this image made from video posted on a social media account affiliated with the Islamic State group on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, a militant topples an ancient artifact in the Ninevah Museum in Mosul, Iraq. (AP Photo via militant social media account)

New Islamic State video shows militants smashing ancient Iraq artifacts

By Sinan Salaheddin - Associated Press

Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter IS, retired Gen. John R. Allen prepares to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to examine the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Gen. John Allen, overseer of anti-IS coalition, claims Iraqis winning

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, warning about a plan to retake Iraq's second-largest city, said "Mosul is 1.4 to 1.8 million people. It's always been a hostile place." (Associated Press)

Mission to retake Mosul from Islamic State doomed, general says

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times

In this Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015, photo, a Shiite militia fighter holds an Iraqi flag with the image of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammed, outside of Kirkuk, Iraq. (AP Photo/Emad Matti)

Iraq Shiite militias rush to defend oil-rich Kirkuk from Islamic State

By Vivian Salama and Bram Janssen - Associated Press

Iraqi shop owners clean up the site of a suicide bombing that targeted a street filled with hardware stores, killing over 20 people and wounding at least 45, in the Iraqi capital's southeastern neighborhood of New Baghdad, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015. A pair of bombings in the Iraqi capital Saturday killed more than three dozen people hours before the city's longtime curfew was set to come to an end. The other attack was in central Baghdad's popular Shorja market where police said two improvised explosive devices detonated 25 meters apart from one another. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Baghdad bombings kill 22, wound at least 45

Associated Press

In this Friday, Jan. 23, 2015 photo, Iraqis look at books on al-Mutanabi Street, home to the city's book market in central Baghdad. One afternoon this month, Islamic State militants arrived at the Central Library of the northern city of Mosul in a non-combat mission. They broke the locks that kept the two-story building closed since the extremists overran the city in mid last year, loading some 2,000 books included children stories, poetry, philosophy, sports, health and cultural and scientific publications into six pickup trucks and leaving behind only the Islamic religious ones. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Islamic State loots Mosul libraries: Non-Islamic texts ‘will be burned’

Associated Press