Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- July 21, 2017

Iraqi government forces used greater firepower in the battle for west Mosul, having suffered heavy casualties in the eastern sector Reuters

Patrick Cockburn, The Independent: The world’s lack of outrage over tens of thousands of civilian deaths in Mosul is shameful

Civillians in the city faced a Catch-22: told by US-led Coalition forces to get away from Isis positions before they were shelled; yet threatened with execution by Isis if they tried to escape

The catastrophic number of civilian casualties in Mosul is receiving little attention internationally from politicians and journalists. This is in sharp contrast to the outrage expressed worldwide over the bombardment of east Aleppo by Syrian government and Russian forces at the end of 2016.

Hoshyar Zebari, the Kurdish leader and former Iraqi finance and foreign minister, told me in an interview last week: “Kurdish intelligence believes that over 40,000 civilians have been killed as a result of massive firepower used against them, especially by the Federal Police, air strikes and Isis itself.”

Read more ....

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- July 21, 2017

The End of American Support for Syrian Rebels Was Inevitable -- Faysal Itani, The Atlantic

Jerusalem -- an urgent issue for Trump administration -- Aaron David Miller, CNN

The Iran Nuclear Deal Isn't Working -- Timothy Stafford, National Interest

North Korea’s July 4 ICBM Test: Propaganda Ploy or the Real Deal? -- Uzi Rubin, RCD

Marawi: Battle to oust militants from Philippine city will have far-reaching ripple effects, report finds -- Samantha Hawley, ABC News Online

Playing on fears, Duterte guns for unchecked power -- George Amurao, Asia Times

It's High Noon in the Himalayas -- Mihir Sharma, Bloomberg

Why is the India-China border stand-off escalating? -- Soutik Biswas, BBC

China would call America’s bluff in the South China Sea -- Hugh White, Lowy Insitute

Europe's Libya Problem -- Sabina Henneberg and Mieczyslaw P. Boduszynski, Foreign Affairs

Putin's No Good, But Where's the Alternative? -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

How Putin sparked a Western military renaissance -- Peter Apps, Reuters

Ukraine's Future Is Brighter Than You Think -- Luke Coffey, National Interest

A Thousand Cuts: The Curious Death of Ukraine -- Neil Thompson, Raddington Report

America Doesn't Need Tariffs to Compete with China -- Harry Krejsa, National Interest