Tikrit

The situation in Iraq is complex, with sects and factions battling for territory and control. It can be hard to follow, and we’ve gotten a lot of questions from listeners about the reality on the ground. So we invited Los Angeles Times correspondent Nabih Bulos to take your questions in a live Q&A on our Facebook page.The situation in Iraq is complex, with sects and factions battling for territory and control. It can be hard to follow, and we’ve gotten a lot of questions from listeners about the reality on the ground. So we invited Los Angeles Times correspondent Nabih Bulos to take your questions in a live Q&A on our Facebook page.

The world has been shocked by pictures and videos released on Sunday by Islamic rebels in Iraq. The images show a massacre. The rebels claim they shot dead 1700 prisoners. But are the images real? The world has been shocked by pictures and videos released on Sunday by Islamic rebels in Iraq. The images show a massacre. The rebels claim they shot dead 1700 prisoners. But are the images real?

Half-a-million Iraqis are believed to be on the road as Sunni extremists seize city after city in the north. The Iraqi army in the north appears to have collapsed in just 24 hours.

Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq in 1979. His rule was ruthless, his politics totalitarian, and his relations with neighboring countries notorious. Jeb Sharp chronicles Saddam Hussein’s rise to power and the brutal tactics and clan politics he employed to stay there until his fall in April 2003.

The New York Times’ John Leland is in Baghdad with the latest on the bloody attack and what this means as the U.S. prepares to withdraw from the country.