Administration nearing decision on improving Iraqi training
JERUSALEM — The Obama administration is nearing a decision on how to improve and accelerate the training of Iraqi security forces in light of recent setbacks against the Islamic State, including the...
View ArticleUS to send more troops to Iraq for expanded training mission
An expected White House decision to send several hundred more troops to Iraq to expand training of Iraqi forces in Anbar province is not a shift in U.S. strategy but is aimed at helping Iraq retake the...
View ArticleObama Confronts Slippery Slope as Islamic State Advances
President Barack Obama is facing the slippery-slope problem in Iraq and Syria that he’s sought to avoid, with some advisers concluding that limited airstrikes are insufficient to break Islamic State’s...
View ArticleIslamic State Advance Test Obama’s No Ground-Force Stance
President Barack Obama is facing the slippery-slope problem in Iraq and Syria that he’s sought to avoid, with some advisers concluding that limited airstrikes are insufficient to break Islamic State’s...
View ArticleUS hawks criticize Obama for 'fundamentally flawed' Iraq strategy
After the fall of Ramadi in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria to Isis militants, critics say president’s strategy is no longer viable and US should step in ...
View ArticleWhy the US Military Opposed New Combat Roles in Iraq
The in the Washington Post on 13 June shows how the US military service chiefs – who make decisions on war policy in light of their own institutional interests – prefer an inconclusive war with IS and...
View ArticleUS-backed offensive in Iraq gets off to disappointing start
BAGHDAD — A U.S.-backed military offensive against Islamic State fighters faltered in its first week as several hundred militants entrenched in the provincial capital of Ramadi withstood punishing...
View ArticleUS-backed offensive in Iraq gets off to a disappointing start
BAGHDAD (Tribune News Service) — A U.S.-backed military offensive against Islamic State fighters faltered in its first week as several hundred militants entrenched in the provincial capital of Ramadi...
View ArticleIslamic State’s advance at Ramadi raises new questions about anti-ISIS strategy
The Islamic State’s capture Friday of the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi provides fresh evidence of the Iraqi army’s weakness, the terrorist movement’s resilience and the shortcomings of the Obama...
View ArticleGeneral: New US hub in Iraq could be model
The Pentagon's top general said Thursday the U.S. military's reach could extend even further into Iraq if the anti-Islamic State campaign gains momentum, and he held out the possibility of eventually...
View ArticleUS to send more troops to Iraq for expanded training mission
An expected White House decision to send several hundred more troops to Iraq to expand training of Iraqi forces in Anbar province is not a shift in U.S. strategy but is aimed at helping Iraq retake the...
View ArticleIgnatius: Pressure to escalate
WASHINGTON As fighters from the Islamic State surge toward control of Anbar Province in western Iraq and the border town of Kobane in Syria, U.S. commanders and diplomats are signaling that the U.S....
View ArticleThe Hell After ISIS
Abu Ammar with one of his sons, outside the home in Kurdistan where they have found refuge from the war against ISIS. Sebastiano Tomada Piccolomini Falah Sabar heard a knock at the door. It was just...
View ArticleInquiry Points Toward a Pentagon Plot to Subvert Obama’s Syria Policy
Airstrikes by the United States and its allies against two Syrian army positions Sept. 17 killed at least 62 Syrian troops and wounded dozens more. The attack was quickly treated as a non-story by the...
View ArticleThe US Is Preparing Military Options Against The Islamic State In Syria
A militant Islamist fighter waves a flag and gestures as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. The United States is preparing military options,...
View ArticleUS Military Leadership Resisted Obama’s Bid for Regime Change in Syria, Libya
Seymour Hersh’s recent revelations about an effort by the US military leadership in 2013 to bolster the Syrian army against jihadist forces in Syria shed important new light on the internal...
View ArticleSyria, Interrupted Game Change
By Jim Kavanagh January 27, 2017 "Information Clearing House" - "The Polemicist" - The recapture of Aleppo by the Syrian Arab Army and its allies marks a turning point not only in the conflict in...
View ArticleWhy Attacking The Islamic State Is Attacking Assad
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad delivers a speech after being sworn in for a new seven-year term in Damascus July 16, 2014. See Also With the United States being sucked inexorably into an unavoidable...
View ArticleDaniel Ellsberg Sees Vietnam-Like Risks in ISIS War
At a recent talk at the National Press Club in Washington DC, Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers in 1971, says he believes there’s not one person in the Pentagon who would agree that...
View ArticleThe two-state solution: what Europe must do and why
Despite chaos elsewhere in the region, resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict remains urgent for its own sake. International Humanitarian Law should be rigorously applied before any negotiation....
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