Commentaries, Editorials, And Analysis On The Iraq Civil War -- June 23, 2014

Briefing: What Is The Islamic State In Iraq And Syria (ISIS)? -- Dan Murphy, CSM

A backgrounder on an extremist organization that is one of the Sunni Arab factions fighting and winning ground against the central government in Iraq.

What is ISIS?

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) was born out of the ashes of Al Qaeda in Iraq, which was established after the US-led invasion in 2003 and ultimately broke with Al Qaeda’s core leadership in Pakistan. Its goal was to build a strict Islamic state based around Iraq’s Sunni-dominated Anbar Province.

The group failed in its objectives, but when Syria’s war broke out in 2011, hardened Iraqi fighters flowed into Syria and joined up with Syrians and other foreign fighters. What emerged was a group with a vision of a transnational caliphate in Syria and Iraq - at least for starters.

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Commentaries, Editorials, And Analysis On The Iraq Civil War -- June 23, 2014

Iraq, Syria, and ISIS: What It All Means -- Kren Leigh, ABC News
ISIS Fighting a New Kind of War -- Toby Harnden, Real Clear Politics
ISIS militants using Shiite-Sunni tension to their advantage, expert says -- Christopher Snyder, FOX News
How much support does ISIS enjoy? -- Abdulrahman al-Rashed, Al Arabiya
Western intervention in Iraq would be a gift to Isis -- Charles Cooper, The Independent
The 5 big winners in Iraq, land of opportunity -- Jean Mackenzie, Global Post
The Jihadi Menace Gets Real -- Walter Russel Mead, American Interest
Iraq Is Finished -- Welcome to Sunnistan -- Colin Freeman, Daily Telegraph
Obama's Iraq drones and 'advisers' are not enough. He needs secret partners -- Robert Caruso, The Guardian
Iraq’s House of Cards: The Primary Mission -- Robin Wright, New Yorker
Time for America to Ally with the Kurds -- Wayne Wei-siang Hsieh, National Interest