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Carlo Muñoz

cmunoz@washingtontimes.com

Carlo Muñoz is a former military correspondent for The Washington Times.

Latest Podcast Episodes for Inheriting Chaos

Articles by Carlo Muñoz

On Thursday, Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Salim al-Jubouri said that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, directly beneath flag, must disband the majority of the Iran-linked Shia paramilitary groups that fought alongside the army against the Islamic State. (Associated Press)

Salim al-Jubouri warns of dangers of Iran-backed Shia militias

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi must disband the majority of the Iran-linked Shia paramilitary groups that fought alongside the army against the Islamic State or risk sparking an outbreak of sectarian violence following the terror group's looming defeat, one of Iraq's leading Sunni politicians warned Thursday.

November 16, 2017
Kurdish leaders remain committed to a political settlement but say their famed peshmerga militia forces are ready to take up arms to defend their homeland. (Associated Press/File)

Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, Kurdish delegate, urges U.S. to push Iraq deal

NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: The Trump administration must do more to push a negotiated settlement between the Iraqi government and the country's Kurdish minority over a blocked Kurdish push for independence, the Iraqi Kurds' top representative in Washington said in an interview, warning that the current truce may not hold and the Kurds will fight back if pushed too far.

November 15, 2017
"Is it not better to have these [political] debates with these groups than to have those groups planning attacks?" asks Abdullah Abdullah, a top Afghan leader.
Afghanistan's Chief of Executive, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, talks during a press conference after he escaped from three suicide attacks during a funeral ceremony, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Jun 3, 2017. Explosions in Kabul on Saturday killed at least six people attending a funeral attended by government officials, including members of parliament, a day after hundreds of demonstrators turned out to demand more security in the capital. (AP Photos/Massoud Hossaini) (Associated Press)

Abdullah Abdullah: Taliban should have role in peace talks

The Taliban, the terror group who have been battling the U.S. and NATO coalition in the country for the last 16 years, should have a seat at the table in peace talks geared toward ending the longest armed conflict in U.S. history, a top Afghan leader said Tuesday.

November 14, 2017
In this Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 frame grab from video, Iraqi security forces speak to shepherd Khalaf Luhaibi next to bones on the ground, in an area recently retaken from the Islamic State group, at an abandoned base near the northern town of Hawija, Iraq. Kirkuk governor Rakan Saed said Sunday that the bodies of civilians and security forces have been found at the mass grave that could contain up to 400 bodies. (Kirkuk Governor's Office via AP)

Coalition confident Baghdad can control Iranian-backed militias

U.S. and coalition commanders remain adamant Iraq's government and military leaders can keep the Iranian-backed Shia militias under control, as the war against Islamic State comes to a close and regional powers look to take advantage of the ensuing chaos in the country.

November 14, 2017
Saudi Arabia has been cultivating substantial military assets for decades, and its arsenal outnumbers Iran's both in quantity and quality. (Associated Press/File)

Iran, Saudi Arabia war readiness compared

Should escalating tensions between bitter regional rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia break out into open conflict, Riyadh's formidable military arsenal would quickly overwhelm Iranian forces in a conventional war, while Tehran would hold the advantage against any Saudi forces in a proxy guerrilla war, analysts say.

November 12, 2017
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, speaks via a video link, during a rally marking Hezbollah Martyr's Day, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Nov. 10, 2017. Nasrallah said that the country's prime minister is currently detained in Saudi Arabia and that his "forced" resignation is unconstitutional because it was done "under duress." He also said that war with Israel is unlikely. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Saudi Arabia ‘has declared war’ on Lebanon, says Hezbollah leader

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah raised the stakes in the growing war of words between Iran and Saudi Arabia on Friday, saying Riyadh efforts to upend the balance of power in Lebanon was effectively a declaration of war against the terror group and its Iranian backers.

November 10, 2017
Iraqi Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi denied claims he was lobbying the U.S. for military support for Iraq's Sunnis. (Associated Press)

Iraqi vice president warns of growing power of Iran-backed militias

Iraqi Vice President Osama al-Nujaifi, the top government official representing the country's Sunni minority, on Tuesday denied claims that Baghdad is pressing the Trump administration to directly arm and train the country's Sunni militias to counter the growing influence of Iranian-backed Shia paramilitaries.

November 7, 2017
In this Sunday, March 7, 2010, file photo, Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al-Saud attends the speech of King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, at the Saudi Shura "consultative" council in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A high-level employee at Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Company told The Associated Press that the royal was among those detained overnight Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Top Saudi officials ousted after corruption crackdown

An unprecedented Saudi crackdown on corruption has purged several top economic and national security figures from Riyadh's ruling class, a move widely seen as an effort by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman to consolidate his power in the kingdom.

November 5, 2017
Violence has broken out in the border areas between Iraqi and Kurdish forces, with tensions high after the Kurds' failed attempt to form their own country. U.S. officials say Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson has been working to defuse the situation. (Associated press)

Iraqi-Kurd feud escalates, but U.S. hopes to defuse tensions

The Trump administration is struggling to prevent a new powder keg from exploding in Iraq, where violence between the central government in Baghdad and the nation's Kurds in the north has displaced more than 180,000 people since the failed Kurdish independence push in September.

November 2, 2017
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, shown here on state television, is not fully aware of the U.S. military might, a high-level defector says. (Associated Press/File)

Thae Yong-ho, North Korea defector, urges Donald Trump to talk with Kim Jong-un

Offering a rare insider's account of life in the world's most isolated and repressive nation, a top North Korean diplomat turned defector told a Capitol Hill hearing that President Trump should consider the unthinkable -- direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un -- as the best way to avoid all-out war on the Korean Peninsula.

November 1, 2017
American and allied forces executed more airstrikes against Taliban and Islamic State strongholds in the country than in any year since 2014, but the Taliban claimed control of nine districts previously held by government forces over the past six months. (Associated Press/File)

Donald Trump’s Afghanistan war strategy faces grim challenges

The Taliban are seizing new territory, civilian casualties and U.S. military deaths are once more on the rise, and insider attacks on American and Afghan forces have more than doubled this year. That's the grim reckoning of a U.S. inspector general's report released Thursday even as the Pentagon and allied forces seek to implement President Trump's strategy for the 16-year-old conflict.

October 31, 2017