Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 5, 2016

Shia militiamen undergo training before the upcoming battle to recapture Mosul in Diyala province, Iraq [REUTERS]

Al Jazeera: Why delay doesn't make sense in Mosul

Don't postpone the battle but do stay engaged for long enough to stabilise Mosul.

In March 2016, I wrote a piece in Al Jazeera that asked the question: what would happen if the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) lost control of Mosul tomorrow? The piece was a reaction to conventional wisdom that Mosul could not be liberated in 2016, as publicly stated by US intelligence officials at the time.

The Iraqi security forces (ISF) ultimately did advance quicker than most observers had anticipated. And with the ISF preparing to surround ISIL's Iraqi capital in the next four to six weeks, it has suddenly become fashionable to think about the "day after" in Mosul.

Read more ....

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 5, 2016

Aleppo: The Capital of Western Indifference -- Thannassis Cambanis, The Atlantic

Why The Battle For Aleppo Is So Important -- Alice Fordham, NPR

Aleppo will eventually fall, but Syrian war will go on -- Samia Nakhoul, Reuters

Syria isn’t a cold war conflict: the US and Russia can’t just fix it -- Mary Dejevsky, The Guardian

Without jobs, Tunisia's shining revolution begins to dim -- Taylor Luck, CSM

In Colombia’s Hope, Afghanistan’s Future -- Alex Thier & Scott Worden, Defense One

Uzbekistan, An Opportunity for U.S. Engagement In Central Asia -- James D. Durso, RCD

Is America Going to Turn on Pakistan? -- Shivaji Kumar, National Interest

23 Years After ‘Black Hawk Down,’ America Is Back at War in Somalia -- Peter Dörrie, National Interest

Who Will Exit the EU Next? -- Adriano Bosoni, Stratfor

Despite Brexit turmoil, British politics is healthy -- Peter Apps, Reuters

The World Has Passed the Old Grand Strategies -- Michael J. Mazarr, WOTR

Do referendums work? Questions rise after 'no' votes in Colombia, Hungary -- Sara Miller Llana and Emily Wright, CSM

Deutsche Bank, Lehman and the End-of-Days Debate -- Mark Gilbert, Bloomberg