Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 3, 2014

U.S. Walks Fine, Awkward Line When Addressing Iranian Airstrikes In Iraq -- Dan Lamonthe, Washington Post

Iranian fighter jets are now said to be bombing the Islamic State militant group in Iraq. It’s an escalation in Tehran’s presence there — and a development that has forced U.S. officials to walk a fine line while addressing it.

The latest example came Wednesday, when Secretary of State John F. Kerry was asked if he was aware of any Iranian airstrikes in Iraq, and whether he thought they were helpful in the fight against the militants. He declined to confirm whether any occurred and said Tehran and Washington are not coordinating military actions, a standing talking point for U.S. officials in recent days. But the secretary went a step further, saying Iranian airstrikes wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 3, 2014

Why would Iran bomb Islamic State in Iraq? -- BBC

Who will win the war against ISIL? -- Inside Story/Al Jazeera

Why is key player in Islamic State fight absent from coalition talks? -- Howard LaFranchi, CSM

Would-Be Jihadists' Letters Home Reveal Unhappy, Mundane Life in ISIS -- Lucy Draper, Newsweek

Falling oil prices might nudge Iran toward nuclear deal, report says -- Sean Cockerham, McClatchy Washington Bureau

Special Report: How Exxon helped make Iraqi Kurdistan -- Dmitry Zhdannikov, Isabel Coles and Ned Parker, Reuters

Xi Jinping's Evolution of Chinese Grand Strategy -- Dingding Chen, The Diplomat

Vladimir Putin’s worst nightmare may be happening right now -- Dan Peleschuk, Global Post

It’s Not Just Ukraine: The real problem is that Putin has the whole region cornered. And no one seems to notice. -- Jeffrey Gedmin, Politico

Stop Talking about NATO Membership for Ukraine -- Christoph Schult, Spiegel Online

An American Talks Strategy in Moscow -- George Friedman, Real Clear World/Stratfor

Corruption Curses Mexico and Brazil -- Jamie Daremblum, Weekly Standard

We Are Never Going to Run Out of Oil -- David Harsanyi, Real Clear Politics

The Likely Pentagon Chief Who Wanted to Bomb North Korea -- Adam Chandler, The Atlantic