Why Mosul's Fall Is A Signature Moment In Iraq -- Dan Murphy, CSM
The city's takeover by Al Qaeda insurgents is a devastating military setback for the Maliki government – and a measure of the political failure of post-Saddam Iraq.
The Iraqi government has lost control of its third-largest city to Al Qaeda-inspired insurgents, a crushing defeat for not only Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's security policies but for Iraqi politics as a whole.
The scale of the catastrophe, as troops loyal to Mr. Maliki flood north and troops controlled by the Kurdish Regional Government rush west and south, can't be overstated. Chicago is the United States' third-largest city. Munich is Germany's. Osaka is Japan's.
And unlike the Anbar towns of Fallujah and Ramadi, almost exclusively Sunni Arab and in the heart of what has long been one of Iraq's most restive provinces, Mosul is an ethnically and religiously mixed town of Sunni and Shiite Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, Christians and Muslims. US forces won, lost, and won control again of Fallujah in fierce battles during the early years of the America-led war in Iraq. But a city like Mosul is something else again.
Read more ....
Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials
The Fall of Mosul -- Max Boot, Commentary
Why The Terrorists Are Winning in Iraq—And How That Could Cost Them Everything -- Jacob Siegel, Daily Beast
Don’t Expect Assad’s Prison Amnesty Pledge To Amount To Much -- Aryn Baker, Time
Why US-Iranian meet is a worrying sign for nuclear talks -- Scott Peterson, CSM
Iran nuclear sanctions: Why the world still does business with Tehran -- Parag Khanna, special for CNN
Is Boko Haram forming an enclave in northeast Nigeria? -- John Campbell, CSM
World Unsafe Until Pakistan Cleans Up Its Mess -- Rob Crilly, The Telegraph
4 reasons the Pakistani Taliban is winning -- Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post
China and America: At a Dangerous Tipping Point -- James Clad and Robert A. Manning, National Interest
America's Ultimate Strategy in a Clash with China -- T. X. Hammes and R. D. Hooker Jr., National Interest
A ‘Classic Counterinsurgency’ Is Quickly Degrading Kiev’s Hopes -- Robert McMahon, Defense One
Will Venezuela Become a No-Fly Country If It Defaults on Its Airline Debt? -- John Holman, Vice
World Cup Aside, Brazil's Economy Stinks -- World Crunch editorial
'Friendly fire' deaths in Afghanistan: Relatively rare, they draw attention. -- Howard Lafranchi, CSM
America's Grand Strategy Disaster -- William C. Martel, National Interest
No comments:
Post a Comment