Max Abrahams, Washington Post: Mohammad Omar’s death could help the Afghan peace process — or harm it
Mullah Mohammad Omar, often simply called Mullah Omar, was the supreme commander and spiritual leader of the Taliban from 1996 to 2013, though confirmation of his death came just late last month. The news broke amid Pakistan-brokered peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, which Omar supposedly endorsed in a mid-July Eid message from his grave.
The Taliban leader was renowned for keeping the lid on an otherwise unwieldy organization. As Vali Nasr noted in 2012, “There is no legitimacy to a Taliban decision without him… He is the Ho Chi Minh of the war.” Unsurprisingly, then, news of his death has sparked a power struggle within the Taliban among potential heirs, each with varying commitments to peace. Omar’s deputy, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, was chosen to succeed him by the Taliban’s seven-member supreme council and is generally seen as pro-peace process. Omar’s son Yaqoob — who may have been assassinated recently by Mansour — is usually described as more likely to continue the bloodshed. The big question is whether Omar’s death and the resultant power struggle are good or bad for the peace process.
Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 7, 2015
Iraqi Kurds to US: Don't forget, we were your friends first -- Julian Pecquet, Al-Monitor
Yazidi Child Soldiers Take Revenge on ISIS -- Mat Wolf, Daily Beast
Iran's 5 Most Lethal Weapons of Influence -- Robert Farley, National Interest
Israel’s Nuclear Weapons a Major Factor in Mideast Arms Race -- Institute for Policy Studies
Japan Leaders at Fault for ‘Reckless’ War, Panel Tells Abe -- Isabel Reynolds and Maiko Takahashi, Bloomberg
North Korea’s new time zone is perfectly bizarre -- Adam Taylor, Washington Post
North Korea: Why the hermit kingdom has established its own time zone -- Cristina Maza, CSM
Egyptian economic ambition riding on new Suez Canal -- Jamie Walker, The Australian
In France, desperately seeking Tsipras -- Nicholas Vinocur, Politico
Putin tries to claim the North Pole. Can he do that? -- Shontee Pant, CSM
Russian Regions Are Running Out of Money -- Stratfor
Russian Hawks Win in Failed Warship Deal -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg
Mikhail Gorbachev: US Military an 'Insurmountable Obstacle to a Nuclear-Free World' -- Interview Conducted by Joachim Mohr and Matthias Schepp, Spiegel Online
Libyan force was lesson in limits of U.S. power -- Missy Ryan, Washington Post
The limits of counterterrorism -- Daniel L. Byman, Brookings
3 comments:
So why did Gorbachev live in San Francisco for a time?
It is hard to follow the progress or lack of it in the operation to retake Ar Ramadi.
There is just not a lot of recent articles.
Sooner or later ISIS is going to lose Falluja or the IA will lose Habbiniya.
They are both salients.
Since Assad admitted he was losing in Syria, would not it be of interest who was winning in Anbar?
Meanwhile Obama compares Republicans to his Iranian leaders. what a class act and an idiot (17 long months to go).
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