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Zheger Hassan is adjunct professor of political science at Kings University College in London, Ont., and a fellow with MENARG at the University of Western Ontario

Last month, a violent skirmish took place in Sinjar, Iraq, between Kurdish peshmerga and Sinjar Resistance Units. The peshmerga involved in the violent clashes are not the same peshmerga that Canada is training and arming. Canadas support for the Kurdish region of Iraq and its peshmerga continues to expand, yet it is not clear that Canadian officials recognize the important differences and connections between the principal Kurdish group receiving Canadian military support and other Kurdish groups in Iraq and those from neighbouring Syria and Turkey.

Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan, and other Canadian officials, have inaccurately referred to the Kurdish peshmerga simply as Kurds and peshmerga. This is consistent with a general assumption in Western countries that Kurds in the Middle East form one large allied ethnic group. The reality is far more complicated, as will become clear in the following outline of the key Kurdish groups. This will have an impact on Canadian interventions in Iraq.

The Kurdish region of Iraq is a semi-autonomous political entity with parallel administrations: The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) governs the provinces of Dohuk and Erbil; and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) governs Sulaymaniyah province. Canadas activities in Iraq are conducted primarily with the KDP. It is the dominant political group and its leader, Masoud Barzani, is president of the region. This party holds a plurality of seats in the Kurdistan regional parliament. It also controls a large peshmerga force that is fiercely loyal to the party rather than to the Kurdistan Regional Government. The KDPs most important ally is the Turkish government, which, according to analysts, exercises significant influence over the KDPs decision-making.

The PUK remains relevant despite losing significant support from the population over the past decade. It has managed to do so because it controls its own peshmerga and receives substantial material and political support from Iran. In exchange for this support, Iran often uses the PUK as a vehicle to advance its agenda in the Kurdish region of Iraq. Iran is often accused of destabilizing the Kurdish region in an effort to maintain its influence in Iraq.

The political environment in the Kurdish region of Iraq is further complicated by the presence of peshmerga from Syria and Kurdish guerrillas from Turkey. The firefight in Sinjar involved three groups: Rojava peshmerga from Syria (Rojava is the name for the Kurdish region of Syria) and members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), as well as the Sinjar Resistance Units, who are Yazidi fighters (many of whom identify as Kurds) loyal to the PKK. It is generally believed that the Rojava peshmerga take orders from Mr. Barzani and the KDP.

The clash in Iraq suggests that the situation is untenable. The KDP has claimed the Sinjar region as its territory, but the PKK has established bases in Sinjar and it has ignored the KDPs appeals for it to leave Iraq. Instead, the PKK has entrenched itself in the Sinjar area and it has gained the loyalty and support of many Yazidis, who regard the PKK fighters as their saviours against the Islamic State. The base in Sinjar allows the PKK to simultaneously counter the KDPs growing influence in Rojava, and to launch military assaults against the very Turkish government that is allied with the KDP.

Canada is quickly becoming entangled in a web of competing political and military factions in Iraq and its new defence policy could make matters worse. One of the key pillars of the Liberal defence policy, entitled Strong, Secure, Engaged, is the expansion of Canadas military activities abroad. Iraq is one military mission that should not be expanded, but rather curtailed.

Although it is well-intentioned, Canadians should be mindful that Canada is conducting its military activities with a specific Kurdish group rather than with some broader peshmerga and Kurds. Kurdish rivalries have historical roots and violent clashes will continue to break out as each group attempts to expand its influence. Arming and training peshmerga committed to one political party will draw Canada into a protracted conflict.

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Canada caught in a web of competing Kurdish factions in Iraq - The Globe and Mail

Hobby Lobby has agreed to forfeit thousands of illegally smuggled ancient Iraqi artifacts, the company and the Department of Justice said on July 5. (Amber Ferguson/The Washington Post)

The arts-and-crafts retailer Hobby Lobby has agreed to pay a $3 million fine for illegally importing thousands of ancient Iraqi clayartifacts smuggled into the United States, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

In addition to the fine, Hobby Lobby will forfeitthousands of clay bullae, cuneiform tablets and cylinder sealsthat were falsely labeled andshipped to the companythrough the United Arab Emirates and Israel,according toa civil complaint and settlement agreement in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

Cuneiform is an ancient writing system that involvedcarving inscriptions into clay or stone. Cylinder seals were used to roll impressions into clay. Clay bullae are balls of clay with seals imprinted on the surface, used toshow a documents authenticity.

The Oklahoma-based company bought more than 5,500artifacts that originated in modern-day Iraq for $1.6 million in December 2010 from an unidentified dealer in an acquisition prosecutors said was fraught with red flags. According to the complaint, Hobby Lobby got conflicting information about where the artifacts had been stored and never met or communicated with the dealer selling them. When it came time to pay, the company wired money to sevenseparate bank accounts.

American collectors and importers must ensure compliance with laws and regulations that require truthful declarations to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, so that Customs officers are able to scrutinize cultural property crossing our borders and prevent the inappropriate entry of such property, acting U.S. attorney Bridget M. Rohde said in a statement.

Hobby Lobby, whose owners are evangelical Christians, said it began collectinga variety of Bibles and other artifacts several years ago with the goal of preserving them for future generations. In a statementWednesday, the company said it did not fully appreciate the complexities of the acquisitions process and relied on dealers who did not understand how to properly ship the items.

We should have exercised more oversight and carefully questioned how the acquisitions were handled, Hobby Lobby President Steve Green said in the statement.

Hobby Lobbys ownersportray their companyas a Christian business and are known for supporting Christian causes. Green is one of the driving forces behind the Museum of the Bible,a 430,000-square-foot facility in Washington, D.C., that is set to open in the fall and will reportedly house thousands of biblical artifacts and texts.

In 2014, Hobby Lobby becamea symbol in debate over religious freedom after it prevailed in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that found family-owned corporations donot have to pay for contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act if it violates their sincerely held religious beliefs.

According to the complaint, Hobby Lobby begancollecting a range of historically significant manuscripts and other antiquities in 2009. The following July, Green traveled with a consultant to the United Arab Emirates, where they inspecteda large cache of cuneiform tablets and other artifacts.

Two Israeli antiquities dealers and one from the United Arab Emirates attended the July 2010 inspection with Hobby Lobbys president and consultant.At the meeting, the complaint says,the artifacts were displayed informally, spread on the floor, arranged in layers on a coffee table, and packed loosely in cardboard boxes, in many instances with little or no protective material between them.

The dealers said the items were from the family collection ofa third dealer who was not present, according to the complaint. They later sent Hobby Lobby a provenance statement a guarantee of authenticity indicating that the artifacts were legally acquired in the 1960s from local markets.

After returning to the United States, the complaint says, Hobby Lobbys president and in-house lawyer spoke with an expert on cultural property law who warned them that antiquitiesfrom ancient Iraqmay have been looted from archaeological sites. In a memo, the expert told them that any items of Iraqi originthat were not properly declared could be seized by customs officials.

Hobby Lobby proceeded with the sale. Starting in late 2010, a United Arab Emirates-based dealer sent 10 packages to three different Hobby Lobby addresses in Oklahoma City, with shipping labels reading ceramic tiles or clay tiles (sample), according to the complaint. No formal entries were made for theshipments. Prosecutors said the use of multiple addresses was consistent with methods used by cultural property smugglers to avoid scrutiny by Customs.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection later intercepted five additional packages, all of them falsely declaring that the artifacts inside came from Turkey. A final shipment containing about 1,000 clay bullae arrived at one of Hobby Lobbys addresses from Israel in September 2011. That one also misrepresented the artifacts country of origin, according to the complaint.

Angel M. Melendez, aU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent, said in a statement Wednesday: While some may put a price on these artifacts, the people of Iraq consider them priceless.

Correction: This story has been updated to remove the suggestion that the artifacts forfeited by Hobby Lobby were smuggled directly from Iraq.

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Hobby Lobby fined $3 million for artifacts smuggled from Iraq - Washington Post

The militants included a large number of foreign fighters: Of the 100 Islamic State extremists that were killed this week, 26 came from outside Iraq, the general said. Russian-speaking foreigners, most likely Chechens, were among the best snipers, he added, though he did not think highly of the Islamic States infantry tactics.

Nobody, however, questioned their proficiency in making and using explosives.

They cant drive car bombs at us anymore, so they hide bombs in abandoned vehicles or just try to run up to us and blow themselves up, he said.

The Iraqi military searches civilians as they try to escape the remains of the city. Men who have sought to flee have been told to remove their shirts, and some strip down to their underwear to show that they are not hiding a bomb. Believing that women are less likely to be screened as carefully, the Islamic State has been using female suicide bombers.

Three members of a CTS battalion dispatched to Mosul from Basra, in southern Iraq, were killed in the recent suicide attacks, the units commander said.

The fact that some militants have managed to get their hands on Iraqi uniforms means that the CTS has to be especially vigilant. We know our guys well, and can tell when its them, General Saadi said.

He also insisted that he was not surprised by the recent spate of suicide attacks. Tips from civilians and drones flown by the Iraqi forces, he said, had given him valuable intelligence. Still, all 17 of the recent bombers, he acknowledged, succeeded in blowing themselves up.

At the trauma stations a short drive from the front, it was clear that the Islamic States bombs were claiming their share of victims: among them, an Iraqi soldier who was already dead when he arrived Wednesday morning at a triage point run by Global Response Management, a nonprofit organization.

Alex Potter, a nurse at the center, said she could gauge the flow of the battle for Mosul from the casualties that arrived. A surge in gunshot wounds to Iraqi troops was an indication that they were making another push against Islamic State positions. Civilians with limbs and torsos crushed by debris were a sign of airstrikes. Suicide bomb blasts often resulted in severe burns and worse.

The casualties arriving from the bombings in recent days had been half civilians, half Iraqi military, said Pete Reed, an emergency medical technician who runs the Global Response Management. The majority of suicide vest attacks in the past few days have been by females, he added.

At another nearby trauma center run by the Iraqi Army and CADUS, a humanitarian organization based in Germany, an Iraqi Humvee rushed up, straight from battle in the old city. Anxious Iraqi soldiers unloaded their comrade wrapped in a thick, blood-soaked blanket.

A gaping bullet hole was in the back of the soldiers head, the work of an Islamic State sniper. The doctors quickly pronounced the soldier dead, and he was lifted into a black body bag. His name and unit were inscribed on a strip of paper that was taped to the outside. A small bag containing his possessions and athletic shoes was placed alongside. He was soon taken away, and a small pool of blood was wiped from the floor.

Follow Michael R. Gordon on Twitter at gordonnyt.

Muhammad Nashat Mahmud contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on July 7, 2017, on Page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: In Mosuls Endgame, Escape Proves Harrowing and Surrender Unlikely.

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No Escape From Mosul, and Unlikely Chance of Surrender - New York Times

BBC News

Tony Blair 'not straight' with UK over Iraq, says Chilcot BBC News Tony Blair was not "straight with the nation" about his decisions in the run up to the Iraq War, the chairman of the inquiry into the war has told the BBC. Speaking for the first time since publishing his report a year ago, Sir John Chilcot discussed ... Chilcot: Tony Blair was not 'straight with the nation' over Iraq warThe Guardian John Chilcot: Tony Blair 'not straight' about Iraq warPOLITICO.eu Tony Blair was not straight with the UK public over the Iraq War, says Sir John ChilcotThe Independent Business Insider -Xinhua -BBC News all 76 news articles »

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Tony Blair 'not straight' with UK over Iraq, says Chilcot - BBC News

Some documentaries about current events are valuable for the sense they bring to incomprehensible incidents, threading viewers through complicated thickets of competing agendas, murky alliances and quickly shifting circumstances.

Nowhere to Hide is not that kind of documentary. A shattering vrit portrait of the disintegration of Iraqi society in the period immediately following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from that country, this urgent, of-the-moment film doesnt explain the ensuing chaos as much as plunge viewers into it firsthand, offering a terrifying, ultimately moving portrait of the effects of war, both physical and psychic.

In the case of Iraq, of course, the term war could refer to as far back as World War I, when European powers invented the country with little sensitivity to the regions long-standing tribal and cultural realities. As Nowhere to Hide opens, American forces have begun to pull out, leaving a vacuum in their wake. Then, waves of savage and largely unexplained violence begin to ripple throughout the country, as the group known as the Islamic State, or ISIS, along with competing local militias, begins to seize the opportunity to sow mayhem in the form of kidnappings, suicide bombings and random acts of murderous cruelty.

Our guide through this bleak landscape is Nori Sharif, a calm, congenial medic whose emergency room in the small town of Jalawla used to be consumed with such quotidian duties as sewing up stitches or setting broken limbs. Nowhere to Hide starts in 2011, when filmmaker Zaradasht Ahmed gives Sharif a small camera so he can film his patients, friends and neighbors along with his four beguiling children. What Sharif creates is a painful, subjective account of how the U.S. invasion and subsequent fight for power have affected his compatriots, who once led modestly secure and happy lives as shepherds, farmers and laborers, but whose injuries now render them dispossessed and despairing.

Sharif remains a compassionate, relentlessly upbeat observer of the trauma engulfing his town and the surrounding Diyala province, known as the triangle of death because of the violence it has attracted until he is touched by it himself. Eventually, Nowhere to Hide chronicles his efforts to keep his family safe, which include moving more than a dozen times. The great gift of Ahmeds film, and the way he has collaborated creatively with his subject, is that viewers can no longer read about faraway events in central Iraq as distant or abstract. Sharifs story has fused with our own, his victories, setbacks and love for his family informing what before might have been routine stories or bad news to avoid. Nowhere to Hide makes it not just impossible, but unconscionable, to turn away.

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'Nowhere to Hide' gives a gift: Making Iraq under the Islamic State no longer a faraway crisis - Washington Post