What Is Iraq's And Syria's Long Term Prospects For Peace

The Economist

Anthony Cordesman, Real Clear World: Why the Strategy in Iraq and Syria Is Failing

One of the ironies of a steadily more partisan Washington is that its politicians and policymakers continue to call for "strategy" without looking beyond the military dimension. One way to lose a war is to lose sight of the objective, and there seems to be an open contest between the administration and the Congress to see who can do the best job of ignoring the objective.

The key question in both Iraq and in Syria - and in what is far too often treated as a "war against ISIL" - is how do you bring any meaningful stability to either country? Military victories are at best a means to that end and can actually make things worse if they are not tied to a set of grand strategic goals.

WNU Editor: This is a sobering analysis (and a must read) on what are the future prospects for Syria and Iraq .... unfortunately .... Anthony Cordesman is probably correct that the future is grim.