Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 26, 2016

Matthias von Hein, DW: Mosul: The next humanitarian disaster waiting to happen

The good news: Things are looking bleak for "IS" in Iraq. The bad news: The upcoming battle for the liberation of the city of Mosul will cause an unprecedented crisis - and hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Peshmerga fighters are closing in on Mosul. The Kurdish troops are only about 20 kilometers from the center of the northern Iraqi city. This comes after they took control of a number of outlying villages in the region in mid-August.

The pressure is growing on the Islamist terror militia "Islamic State" in Iraq. All the signs suggest that an offensive to drive "IS" from Mosul is imminent. A recently captured airfield near the town of Kayara is now being built into a logistics center for the planned assault - with the strong support of the US. Only in July, Washington increased its military strength in Iraq with another 560 soldiers - to assist the Iraqi government in its declared aim of retaking Mosul.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- August 26, 2016

The Sacking of Iraq's Defense Minister -- Stratfor

Why US, Britain are key to ending Yemen horror -- Peter Salisbury, Special for CNN

Turkey Won’t Solve Its ISIS Problem By Invading Syria -- Aaron Stein, Defense One/The Atlantic

A de Facto No-Fly-Zone in Syria? -- Maj Gen Ralph S. Clem, War on the Rocks

U.S. Plans to ‘Corner’ Russia on Syria’s Chemical Weapons -- Christopher Dickey, Daily Beast

Could Putin make peace between Israel, Palestinians? -- Aaron David Miller, CNN

If Google can track my pants, why can't they nail the jihadis? RICHARD LITTLEJOHN says internet giants should not aid terrorists who want to destroy our freedoms -- Richard Little John, Daily Mail

China has all but ended the charade of a peaceful rise -- Frank Ching, South China Morning Post

Is Putin’s Russia Headed for a Systemic Collapse? -- Kirk Bennett, American Interest

John Kerry and Sergey Lavrov: Fatal attraction I -- Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera

Venezuela's steep prices, scarcities open the way for cardboard coffins -- Diego Oré and Liamar Ramos , Reuters

Colombia and the FARC: Ending a half-century of war -- The Economist

Colombia's FARC rebels face tricky return under peace deal -- Helen Murphy and Luis Jaime Acosta, Reuters

Colombia's historic peace plan has a drug problem -- Von Christopher Woody, Business Insider

Donald's Wall Is Already There -- Todd Miller, RCW/Tom Dispatch