SC:Iraq is in a dangerous neighborhood..

[kamalsinghy]

Hi,

I have a query regarding a usage of "is verb+ing to have to verb" in the below sentence of nytimes.com. Could you please elaborate on the usage of this construction and what does it imply?.

Iraq is in a dangerous neighborhood, but it also has its own history of menacing its neighbors. Washington is going to have to decide how much firepower it is willing to sell Iraq, knowing that Baghdad can buy elsewhere.

Thanks,
Kamal

[JonathanSchneider]

This is actually idiomatic. You will only see this construction when the first verb is "to go."

is/are going to have to ... = will have to ...

As for the "have to," this means "need to," in the sense of "must."