Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- September 15, 2014

Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters

Obama's IS Plan Looks Good On Paper. But In Practice? -- Dan Murphy, CSM

If US statements are taken at face value, Obama has set the country a mammoth task in the Middle East with a very low probability of success.

President Barack Obama's plan to confront the self-styled Islamic State is, on paper, simple. Put Sunni Arabs in the lead so that jihadis won't claim that they're being unfairly targeted by infidel "crusaders;" mount a robust air campaign against IS in support of Iraqi government forces; build a non-jihadi Syrian army that can defeat the regime of Bashar al-Assad; use public messaging to stem the utopian Islamist appeal of the jihadis.

Start thinking about how all this could be done, however, and it begins to look outlandishly difficult, if not impossible. Some of Obama's plans are at cross purposes, while others assume abilities neither the US government nor any of its partners have ever shown they possess.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- September 15, 2014

Who Are These 'Moderate' Syrians Obama Wants to Pit Against ISIS? -- Jamie Dettmer, Daily Beast

White House Has No International Legal Justification for Hitting ISIS in Syria -- Josh Rogin, Daily Beast

Lessons of Libya cast shadow on Syria strategy -- Oren Dorell, USA TODAY

Obama's Scariest ISIS Comment Yet: 'I'm Not Going to Anticipate Failure' -- Danny Vinik, New Republic

Here’s What Arab Militaries Bring to the Fight Against the Islamic State -- Bobby Ghosh, Defense One/Quartz

Obama's Hawkish Plan For Islamic State Puts Doves In A Quandary -- Tamara Keith, NPR

Boko Haram Is on the Attack. Will the world intervene? -- Peter Dorrie, War Is Boring

4 Reasons Xi Jinping Is a Serious Reformer -- Dingding Chen, The Diplomat

With China on the Rise, America Must Woo India -- Paul J. Leaf, National Interest

China’s ‘creeping invasion’ -- Jackson Diehl, Washington Post

The West Is Not Prepared for the Long Haul Over Ukraine -- Judy Dempsey, Carnegie Europe

Europe's Political Divorces Are Often Messy -- Pyotr Romanov, Moscow Times

What kind of new state could Scotland be? -- Fintan O'Toole, Irish Times

The NSA Breach of Telekom and Other German Firms -- Andy Müller-Maguhn, Laura Poitras, Marcel Rosenbach, Michael Sontheimer and Christian Grothoff/Spiegel Online

Vietnam War soldiers receive Medal of Honor: Why so late? -- Anna Mulrine, CSM