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

Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Yemen, was killed in a US drone strike last week. Reuters

Dan Murphy, CSM: US airpower takes out a bunch of Al Qaeda leaders. Effective warfare?

US airstrikes appear to have killed Al Qaeda's number two in Yemen and over a dozen jihadis near the Libyan city of Benghazi. The question is whether the Pentagon's ongoing assassination campaign is doing any good.

In the past few days the US killed Nasser al-Wuhayshi, Al Qaeda's second in command and leader of its powerful Yemen affiliate, and a group of Al Qaeda members gathered for a meeting west of Benghazi, Libya.

The main target of the Libya attack, near the city of Ajdabiya, was Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the Algerian chief of the Al Qaeda affiliate for North Africa. At this point it appears that Belmokhtar, a veteran of the Afghan jihad against the Soviets and leader of the 2013 attack on the Ain Amenas gas facility that murdered 35 civilians, may have escaped with his life.

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

Why the Islamic State Is Weathering the Air Campaign -- Peter Mansoor, War On The Rocks

Congress Pushes Obama to Arm Iraq's Kurds -- Josh Rogin, Bloomberg

Victories over Islamic State give Syria Kurds claim to bigger role -- Tom Perry, Reuters

Africa Is Way Bigger Than You Think -- Mark Fischetti, Scientific American

Bashir and the double standard of international justice -- Ayesha Kajee, Al Jazeera

The South Asia Nuclear Equation: Recent remarks by a Pakistani general have reopened the debate on South Asia’s nuclear stability. -- By Kunal Singh, The Diplomat

China Breaks Out of Asia's Orbit -- William Pesek, Bloomberg

NATO to Shame Members Countries Over Defense Spending -- C. Hope, Telegraph

The West must consider Russia, after Putin -- Sergei Guriev, Gulf News

News guide: A look at Greece's financial troubles -- AP

How Neil Young, Greenpeace work to starve the world’s poor -- Owen Paterson, New York Post

Pope Francis Tries to Save the World From Climate Change -- Barbie Latza Nadeau, Daily Beast

How Asia trade deal could make or break Obama's foreign policy vision -- Howard Lafranchi, CSM