Turkey’s Post-Mosul Calculations in Iraq

by Robert Olson Turkey does not have one foreign policy toward Iraq but several. Its primary concern is not toward the Shi’a-dominated government in Baghdad but rather toward the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Irbil, and, in particular, toward the… Continue Reading

Islamic State Vulnerable, But US Troops Not the Answer

by Wayne White Regardless of its terrorist spectacles abroad, from Beirut to Paris, the Islamic State (ISIS or IS) continues to lose territory in its Syrian-Iraqi base. Large dollops of US ground forces in roles closer to the fighting are… Continue Reading

Ramadi: No Model for the Future

by Wayne White The recapture of most of the Iraqi city of Ramadi is good news, especially since Iraq Army units backed by Sunni Arab tribesmen pulled it off without abusive Shi’a militias. This victory, however, was tarnished by the… Continue Reading

New Excuse for Greater CIA Involvement in Iraq

by Wayne White With a long history of misguided, damaging American intervention and meddling in the Middle East, the reported CIA effort to target the al-Nusra Front in Syria by helping Iraqi anti-terrorism units to attack its roots in Iraq… Continue Reading