Thursday, April 16, 2015

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- April 16, 2015



Bloomberg editorial: Iraq Needs More U.S. Help to Defeat Jihad

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi came to Washington this week with many urgent requests and will leave with some vague reassurances. President Barack Obama was right to promise more humanitarian and military assistance, but for it to be effective, the U.S. has to demand some changes from Abadi -- and make some of its own, in its mission and expectations.

All additional aid should be contingent on Abadi's progress in leading Iraq: quelling sectarian tensions, ensuring the safety of Sunni Muslims, professionalizing the multiethnic army, and diminishing the sway of Iran and the Shiite militias it backs. Abadi has struggled on these fronts, but he is certainly more reliable than his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki. Given the threat of Islamic State, he needs more support.

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- April 16, 2015

The Kurds' Heroic Struggle Against ISIS -- Michael J. Totten, World Affairs

Pakistan Could End Up Charging CIA Officials With Murder Over Drone Strikes -- Sabrina Toppa, Time

Kabul Appears To Be More Tense Since U.S. Troop Drawdown -- NPR

India and Pakistan’s Proxy War in Afghanistan -- Catherine Putz, The Diplomat

Does Mullah Omar Still Matter? -- Michael Kugelman, War On The Rocks

MH370 Search May Be in the Wrong Place Again -- Clive Irving, Daily Beast

Exclusive: How Nigeria's 'smooth' election nearly went wrong -- Ed Cropley and Tim Cocks, Reuters

How mobile banking can bring Sub-Saharan Africa out of poverty -- Yahoo News

How Vladimir Putin tries to stay strong -- The Economist

Putin upbeat on Russian recovery, but doth he protest too much? -- Michael Holtz, CSM

Poor Putin's Wealthy Friends -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

No Room For Iranian Oil In Current OPEC Strategy -- Andy Tully, OilPrice.com

Drones Keep Obama's Yemen War Alive -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg

'Man-made disaster': Critics say California drought caused by misguided environment policies -- Malia Zimmerman, FOX News

General: School lunches are U.S. national-security issue -- Samuel E. Ebbeson, Reuters

1 comment:

James said...

These media guys just crack me up. The Obama Administration isn't concerned about Iranian involvement.
What has ticked off the Administration was that the Iraqi's, Irani's, and the Iraqi Shia militia screwed up the battle for Tikrit and turned the whole thing into a major embarrassment for everyone involved.
I can do the meeting:
Obama: You guys messed up big time.
Abadi: yeah, but we'll do better.
Obama: Look you can't have the militia's going around acting like ISIS and what's the deal with Sulamaeni ditty bopping around the front lines getting his picture taken drinking tea for goodness sakes.
Abadi: yeah, well the militia's you know boys will be boys and Sulamaeni well he's left for the south says he's got a better gig. We'll talk to the militia guys and get that straightened out and oh by the way do you happen to have 10 to 15 billion you could spare us, to tide things over you know.