STAFF

PUBLISHING HOUSE: Khak Press & Media Center
MANAGING EDITOR: Tanya Goudsouzian
DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR: Lawen A. Sagerma
COLUMNISTS: Dr Sherko Abdullah, Agri Ismail, Dr Joseph Kechichian, Anwar M. Qaradaghi
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Ari Anwar, Zheno Abdulla, Hawkar Jalal Ahmed, Noman Abdurrahman Ali, Iason Athanasiadis, Roj Bahjat, Karokh Bahjat, Linda Berglund, James Blount, Patrick Cockburn, Ilnur Cevik (Ankara), Jonathan Dworkin, Dr Rebwar Fatah (London), Pat Gaffney (London), Basit Gharib, Dr Harry Hagopian (London), Dana Hameed, Dr Albert Issa, Fakhri Karim (Baghdad), Ali Kurdistani, Ibrahim Al Marashi (Istanbul), Mohamed Karim Mohamed, Hawre Daro Noori, Shadman Janab Noori, Jamal Penjweny, Asoz L. Rashid (Baghdad), Dr Latif Rashid (Baghdad), Bakhtiar Sabir, Qubad Talabani (Washington, DC), Ranj Talabany
REPORTERS: Awat Abdullah, Darya Ibrahim, Hazhar Mohammed, Galawizh H. Rashid
HEAD OF COPY DESK: Anwar M. Qaradaghi
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR: Aram Eissa
CARTOONS: Ako Gharib
DIRECTOR OF DESIGN: Darya Ibrahim
MARKETING MANAGER: Brwa Abdulrahman
CIRCULATION MANAGER: Rashid Khidr Rashid
PRINTING HOUSE: Al Mada Publishing (Baghdad)

Lessons in Iraqi slang
By Agri Ismail
This issue I’ve decided to do the readers a favor and provide a small - and ultimately perfunctory - list of terms one cannot get by without in Iraq: Joker: A joker is any form of adaptor, especially one that takes any plug.

Regaining sovereignty
By Dr Joseph Kechichian
Prime Minister Nouri Kamal Al Maliki scored two surprising recent victories that buttressed his legitimacy and promoted Iraqi sovereignty. His publicly confirmed decision to insist on a short-term security pact with the United States..

A standard language for the Kurds
By Anwar M. Qaradaghi
During the past five or six decades, volumes have been written and spoken about the question of a standardized Kurdish language at numerous meetings and conferences held in the Kurdistan Region and other parts of the world.