How We Lost Touch With Our Friends in Iraq
In December 2009, the infantry company I commanded took over an area of western Baghdad Province that stretched from just west of Baghdad International Airport to the eastern outskirts of Fallujah. The United States was in the midst of drawing down in Iraq, so as units departed, those remaining inherited successively larger areas of operation. …
Iraq, Syria, and the Islamic State: A Matter of Control
In the opening days of America’s ongoing air campaign in Iraq, many critics and pundits decried the admitted absence of a strategy guiding the Obama administration’s response to the emerging threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). However, in the last two weeks there has been a rapid evolution towards …
No Escape from Baghdad: America’s Bipartisan Project in Iraq
The United States has essentially been at war in Iraq for 24 straight years. It began with Operation Desert Shield on August 7, 1990, with the first American fatality occurring just five days later. This war extends over four presidents and 16 Congresses, dominated alternatively by both major political parties. America’s current situation in Iraq …
To Defeat ISIL, Empower Sunni Iraqis and Syrians
Thirteen years after 9/11, Islamic militants have seized a state-sized territory in the heart of the Middle East, and the United States is struggling to determine how to respond. The two main approaches the United States has used thus far to combat extremists — large-scale, prolonged deployments of ground troops and pinprick drone strikes — …
Iraq, Syria, and ISIL: Americans don’t want BS, but do they want leadership?
Brian Fishman’s new article, “Don’t BS The American People about Iraq, Syria, and ISIL” has set my Twitter feed alight today, garnering a great deal of praise. And while there is some insightful thinking in the article, I found myself somewhat less enthused about it than most, and thought I would take to the Hasty Ambush blog …
Don’t BS the American People About Iraq, Syria, and ISIL
The apparent beheading of American journalist James Foley by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is a stark reminder of the group’s terrible brutality and the seriousness required to counter them. Unfortunately, much of the political discourse about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is counterproductive to good policy. …
(Air) Striking the Right Balance in Iraq
As the forces of the Islamic State (IS) have solidified their gains after declaring the establishment of a new caliphate and are now conducting spectacular attacks in Baghdad, threatening Kurdish controlled areas, targeting minorities, and creating a humanitarian crisis, President Obama has approved air strikes in an attempt to stem the tide of their advance. …
Dempsey: Does Iraq have a political future?
At the Aspen Security Forum on Friday, General Martin E. Dempsey opened his remarks with a joke: “Some of you in the audience have been kind enough to invite me [to the Aspen Security Forum] four years in a row, but I wanted to wait until things calmed down before I came.” This was, of …
Afghanistan is not the next Iraq
Could Afghanistan be the next Iraq? Within foreign policy circles, it’s become one of the most frequently posed questions of the summer. And according to many, the answer is a resounding “Yes.” “A future similar to Iraq’s may be inevitable,” warns Anish Goel, a South Asia fellow at the New America Foundation. “I watch and …
Iraq and Longing for Vietnam
Americans want desperately for Iraq to be viewed as another Vietnam. On its face, this may seem a highly counterintuitive proposition. Why, one might ask, would a nation that lost more than 58,000 of its young men and women during a failed war in Southeast Asia desire a repeat performance in the Middle East? Surely …
Ollivant in Politico: Why Iraq Is More Stable Than You Think
The news from Iraq is bad. Four distinct yet intertwined problems—the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the dysfunctional politics of Iraq, the utter collapse of the Syrian state and the larger cold war between Saudi Arabia and Iran—have combined to disrupt the fragile stability gained by the Iraqis in …
6 Strategies for Syria and Iraq
In June, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a conventional offensive that caught the international community by surprise, temporarily conquering large amounts of territory, capturing the cities of Mosul and Tikrit, and routing the Iraqi army’s 2nd Division in the northwest. Unsurprisingly, the first response in the United States was a cacophony …
From Magdeburg to Mosul: Iraq, Syria, and the 30 Years War
Mark Twain’s supposed quip that “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme” has been in the back of my mind as I followed the recent events in Iraq. The fall of Mosul, Tikrit and Tal Afar, images of prisoners massacred by ISIS fighters and the frenzied call to arms of local militias in Baghdad …
Infographic: Visualizing ISIS Violence in Iraq and Syria
Editor’s note: We’ve partnered with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) to publish a series of infographics based on data from their Global Terrorism Database and related START projects. Each week we’ll release a new set of graphics that depict trends in global terrorism activity. Sign up for the War on the Rocks …
Inside the Collapse of the Iraqi Army’s 2nd Division
Recent advances by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) (which recently renamed itself the Islamic State) in Mosul and Tikrit captured the attention of many analysts, many of whom were surprised at the stunningly weak performance of the Iraqi Security Forces. But those forces did not collapse overnight: they had been failing …
