CNN on Iraq

CNN teams are on the ground in Iraq, across the region, where decisions are being made and where the impact is being felt. We will bring you news and analysis from the crisis like no one else can.

Follow this story for posts, videos and photos as we follow our mission to Go There.

3rd & 7 37yd

'Surreal' daily life in Baghdad
Anderson Cooper spoke this morning with Don Lemon about what he's seeing of daily life in Baghdad:

"This is a country that, as you well know, has had decades now of war, decades of oppression.

"This is a place that is used to high levels of tension, high levels of uncertainty.

"So in many ways, life is going on as normal in this capital. There are stalls open in the street, shops are open, particularly early in the day.

"People are going about their business. People are going to work.

Women walk past the site of a bomb blast in Baghdad on Tuesday.
by Rachel Clarke

"This is a largely Shia-dominated city, so there's great confidence here among the Shia in the city that the city itself is not going to fall, though militants may be less than 40 miles from here, in Baquba.

"Between here and there, there are more hardened troops. There are these large numbers of Shia volunteers who have signed up, thousands of whom come actually from fighting over the last year or two in Syria in support of the regime of Bashar al-Assad against ISIS and other forces there.

"They have now come back here to defend the capital. So there is a sense of optimism.

"I talked to a lot of people in the street yesterday about are they concerned, are they fearful of Baghdad falling. To a man, they all said no, that they can resist the forces that are nearby.

"It is kind of surreal just how used to conflict people here are. I think if there were enemy fighters 40 miles outside New York City, people in the city would be understandably concerned.

"Here, it's just the latest thing to have happened in a long line of things that have been going on here for many years."

Anderson will host Anderson Cooper 360 from Baghdad again tonight. Watch CNN at 8 ET.

by Rachel Clarke 6/18/2014 3:56:27 PM
What can be done to prevent militants who fight with groups like ISIS from launching attacks in their home countries?
Former Bush Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend talks with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

by CNN's Ed Payne 6/18/2014 10:10:23 AM
Some #Iraqis flee #ISIS , others are ready to fight back. @andersoncooper meets a new fighter: cnn.it/1qaNo5I http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BqYJhOvCMAA8TbX.jpg

by Anderson Cooper 360° via twitter 6/18/2014 2:16:46 AM
Blair: This challenge is complex
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair tells CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” that the issues in Iraq are part of a “generational struggle” that “we’re going to have to try to deal with it.”

by CNN's Steve Almasy 6/18/2014 2:15:42 AM
More bloodshed in Baghdad
CNN’s Anderson Cooper reports from the streets of Baghdad where there were concerns that sectarian divides were deepening in the capital and in other areas of the country.

by CNN's Steve Almasy 6/18/2014 12:55:56 AM
We shall stay as a thorn in their eye - #Baghdad merchant talks to @andersoncooper about #ISIS . #AC360

by Anderson Cooper 360° via twitter 6/18/2014 12:04:11 AM
Hillary Clinton: ‘It’s a very hard choice’

The former Secretary of State tells CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that Washington needs a better idea of "what we are getting ourselves into" in Iraq before the U.S. military gets involved.

by CNN's Steve Almasy 6/17/2014 9:43:58 PM
Bombs in Baghdad
Police tell us at least four roadside bombs exploded in the capital today, though it's not yet clear who's behind the bloodshed.
Nic Robertson, who's in Baghdad, says one blast was near where military uniforms are sold.
Nic Robertson
@NicRobertsonCNN
#Baghdad bomb death toll climbs - at least three people killed, nine wounded, mostly civilians. Near two shops selling military uniforms
Jun. 17, 2014
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by Rachel Clarke 6/17/2014 6:12:30 PM
#ISIS is cutting a deadly path through #Iraq & cashing in. Where #ISIS gets its money: cnn.it/1pb5OSr #AC360 http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BqWOOkxCIAIZGCt.jpg

by Anderson Cooper 360° via twitter 6/17/2014 6:03:38 PM
Identifying a victim
Arwa Damon has been back in Iraq for days. In this report she analyzes executions, apparently by the ISIS terror group, that were posted online.
Many of the dead cannot be identified, but we now know one was a father who adored his children.
Warning: Some of the images are very graphic.

by Rachel Clarke 6/17/2014 5:51:25 PM
Live from Baghdad tonight

Anderson Cooper is in Iraq and will be broadcasting his show tonight from Baghdad. Watch for the latest at 8p ET.
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by Rachel Clarke 6/17/2014 5:45:30 PM