Pundits increasingly question whether the insurgency within Iraq has foreign roots, as some Administration officials have claimed. The National Review’s Michael Ledeen argues that question is not easy to answer. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently tried to disassociate the word insurgent from the enemy forces in Iraq. Ledeen explains that the “so-called” domestic insurgents have “Iraqi DNA” but “Iranian ideology.” These are the “millions,” says Ledeen, of Iraqi Shiites who joined with Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war and spent nearly 20 years in Iran. Many were absorbed by Iranian intelligence and terror networks. Ledeen also maintains that Sunnis and Shiites do cooperate, many becoming “Iranian-trained terrorists,” working with or within Iran.
NATO Scrambles Fighter in Newest Response to Russian Drones
Sept. 16, 2025
NATO scrambled its first fighter Sept. 13 under its new plan to bolster its defenses against Russian air incursions that was put into place after an array of Russian drones flew into Polish airspace last week, the officials from the alliance’s military command said.
