Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- July 30, 2015

Joseph Goldstein and Taimoor Shah, New York Times: Death of Mullah Omar Exposes Divisions Within Taliban

KABUL, Afghanistan — With word of Mullah Muhammad Omar’s death now getting out, most likely two years after the event, the world is catching up with a Taliban leadership crisis already in progress.

The questions the Taliban are wrestling with include not just who stands to succeed Mullah Omar as leader, but whether anyone has enough support to keep the insurgency from splintering irrevocably, especially over the issue of peace talks, according to Afghan and Western officials.

For the moment, the Taliban’s deputy leader over the past five years, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, is the de facto leader of the group’s governing body in exile, the Quetta Shura. He has had years to influence who rose among the Taliban’s ranks, has the tacit acceptance of the group’s Pakistani military monitors, and he has been the leader in a year when the Taliban have made their biggest military gains on the Afghan battlefield.

Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- July 30, 2015

Why the West may miss the Taliban’s Mullah Omar -- David Rohde, Reuters

How Turkey will change the war against ISIS -- Startfor

Mullah Omar's death: Will it make a difference in Afghan conflict? -- Tom Peter, CSM

After the Nuclear Deal, a Region Recalibrates -- Stratfor

Iran nuclear agreement: Is a 'better deal' possible – and at what cost? -- Howard LaFranchi, CSM

Are there really only two options on Iran? -- Doyle McManus, L.A. Times

Yemen's Hidden War: A journey into one of the most remote and dangerous countries in the world -- Matthieu Aikins, Rolling Stone

Democrats Own the Disaster in the Middle East -- Noah Rothman, Commentary

Africa to Obama: Mind your own business -- Andrew M Mwenda, Al Jazeera

The Greek crisis: What's Germany up to? -- ULRICH SPECK, EU Observer

Putin's Energy Giant Falls on Hard Times -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

Vladimir Putin is suffocating his own nation -- Washington Post editorial

Why Americans Believe that Bombing Hiroshima was Necessary -- Gary G. Kohls, Scoop

Debris Shows MH370 Didn’t Nose Dive -- Clive Irving, Daily Beast