The Islamic State group's self-styled "caliphate" across parts of Iraq and Syria seemed largely defeated last year, with the loss of its territory, the killing of its founder in a U.S. raid and an unprecedented crackdown on its social media propaganda machine.

Young Iraqis who drove mass protests demanding sweeping political reforms are worried that the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, which is playing out in part on Iraqi soil, is killing their momentum.

Democratic presidential candidates are lambasting President Donald Trump's decision to kill Iran's top general in an airstrike, a move that has thrust foreign policy to the forefront of the primary and revived intraparty disputes over military intervention in the Middle East.