Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- June 18, 2014

A Third Iraq War? -- Robin Wright, New Yorker

The United States now faces the possibility of its third intervention in Iraq. On paper, the two earlier wars quickly achieved their military goals. In 1991, a muscular alliance of thirty-four nations, led by the United States, forced Iraq to withdraw from the tiny city-state of Kuwait in a mere six weeks. In 2003, President Saddam Hussein, after twenty-four years in power, fled Baghdad just three weeks after a token “coalition of the willing” invaded. Yet both wars were ultimately political failures, and the new challenge in Iraq may prove to be even deadlier, with sweeping regional repercussions. Given its deepening sectarian and ethnic divisions—and the absence of a cohesive or effective military—the modern Iraqi state may not hold. Neighboring Syria is already shattered, and the Middle East map—defined by European powers a century ago—may be redrawn, either de facto or formally. Globally, the jihadist threat has never been greater.

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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials -- June 18, 2014

Put blame where blame is due: on ISIS -- Gabriel Said Reynolds, New York Daily News

As ISIS advances, what future for Iraqi Christians? -- Jane Arraf, CSM

ISIS advance in Iraq forces Gulf donors to rethink their patronage -- Elizabeth Dickinson, CSM

The sectarian myth of Iraq -- Sami Ramadani, The Guardian

Half-Price Kurdish Oil Threatens Iraq Breakup With Turkish Help -- Selcan Hacaoglu, Jack Fairweather and Nayla Razzouk, Bloomberg Businessweek

Don’t Fight in Iraq and Ignore Syria -- Anne-Marie Slaughter, NYT

The Middle East's own Thirty Years' War has begun -- Douglas Murray, The Spectator

Israel's search for kidnapped teens: What is known so far, and what it means -- Christa Case Bryant, CSM

Afghan Candidate Challenges Election Body's Legitimacy -- Margherita Stancati, WSJ

If a War Exploded in Asia, What Would Japan Do? -- Alexander Sullivan, National Interest

Will Chinese rebuke to Vietnam spur greater Southeast Asian cooperation? -- Ralph Jennings, CSM

Venezuela Is Running Out of Cookies and Coffins -- Boris Munoz, Vocativ

U.S. Officials Ignoring Rise in Drug Trafficking in Latin America -- Daniel Wiser, Washington Free Beacon

Does Putin Really Want to Revive the Soviet Union? -- Dan Peleschuk, Global Post

Ukraine president announces cease-fire plan, but will it take? -- Lydia Tomkiw, Christian Science Monitor

Obama listens to no one, and chaos ensues -- Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post

America's World-Weariness Dilemma -- Riccardo Alcaro, National Interest