Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 2, 2016

Heather Murdock, VOA: In the Fog of Mosul: War Games and Games in War

MOSUL, IRAQ — “We expected that the children would be afraid,” says Ali, a grandfather who was an herbalist before Islamic State militants took over Mosul. “But they just went on playing while mortars rained down on our neighborhood.”

About four meters away, Iraqi soldiers fire mortars over a brick wall behind which Islamic State militants had retreated a few days ago after a brutal battle. A thick fog engulfs the city and soldiers tell us the weather is an IS tool. In the fog, they say, airplanes can’t see militants so the fighters can move forward unnoticed.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 2, 2016

This is why everything you’ve read about the wars in Syria and Iraq could be wrong -- Patrick Cockburn. The Independent

Turkey Is on a Collision Course With the Syrian Regime -- Patrick Megahan & Merve Tahiroglu, Lon War Journal

Is Israel being pulled into Syrian war? -- Ben Caspit, Al-Monitor

The Taliban and China's quest for Afghan copper -- Waslat Hasrat-Nazimi, DW

China Ponders ADIZ in Disputed Sea -- Ralph Jennings, VOA

China Seizes Opening in U.S. Backyard as Trump Upends Policy -- Ting Shi and John Quigley, Bloomberg

François Hollande's Legacy -- Yasmeen Serhan, The Atlantic

Putin Gets His Self-Confidence Back -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg

Russia's Path to Another Resurgence -- Stratfor

US–Russia Alliance Is Unlikely -- Joshua Philipp, Epoch Times

New Putin Doctrine Says U.S. Pressure 'Undermining' Global Stability -- Carl Schreck, RFE

What Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to get from a Trump administration -- Laura King, L.A. Times

On nuclear weapons, Trump face questions of modernization -- Robert Burns, AP

The Monetary Meltdown in Venezuela -- Francisco Toro, Washington Post

Forget Fidel Castro: Raul is running the show -- Korand Yakabuski, The Globe and Mail