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On the Front Line Against Islamic State
Keywords:
Sohrab Ahmari of the WSJ talks to Masrour Barzani at a forward base on the Syria-Iraq border in Dec. 2015, at a time when terrorist attacks in France and the U.S. are shifting public opinion in the UK, Germany and the U.S., as well as France.
Iraq splintering into three regions in 2015- Sunni, Shiite and Kurd
03/26/2015
The situation on the ground with the intolerance of the previous Maliki government in Baghdad, the rise of Islamic State, and the Kurdish state in the north, have created conditions on the ground that are leading ordinary Sunnis and Shiites in the 2.5 million plus refugees to see the division of the country between Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish as permanent partition of the country. Beyond the partition is the wider sectarian conflict between Shiites and Sunnis that the conflict in Syria-Iraq has created, and its spread to other parts of the Middle East including Yemen., drawing a coalition of Arab states led by the Saudis and Turkey opposing Shiite Iran.
Grouped Articles
Iraq Inches Toward 3-Way Split
Wall Street Journal 03/26/2015
Who’s Willing to Fight for Iraq?
New York Times 06/01/2015
With More Cash, Iran Poised to Help Mideast Friends
Wall Street Journal 07/16/2015
America’s Marxist Allies Against ISIS
Wall Street Journal 07/25/2015
Turkey Riles U.S. Ally in Fight Against Jihadists
Wall Street Journal 07/28/2015
Sinjar Victory Bolsters Kurds, but Could Further Alienate U.S. From Iraq
New York Times 11/13/2015
The effort against Islamic State in 2015
01/23/2015
Grouped Articles
Coalition Has Reclaimed Territory from Islamic State, Kerry Says
Wall Street Journal 01/23/2015
Obama’s Dual View of War Power Seeks Limits and Leeway
New York Times 02/11/2015
Splits in Islamic State Emerge as Its Ranks Expand
Wall Street Journal 03/10/2015
Sunni Tribes in Iraq Divided Over Battle Against Islamic State
Wall Street Journal 05/22/2015
Regional Discord Fuels Islamic State’s Rise in Mideast
Wall Street Journal 10/16/2015
On the Front Line Against Islamic State
Wall Street Journal 12/05/2015
U.S. president Obama and handling of Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq- policy failures and corrective course
09/28/2014
Grouped Articles
Obama Acknowledges U.S. Erred in Assessing ISIS
New York Times 09/28/2014
Iraq and U.S. Find Some Potential Sunni Allies Have Already Been Lost
New York Times 11/15/2014
Months of Airstrikes Fail to Slow Islamic State in Syria
Wall Street Journal 01/15/2015
Coalition Has Reclaimed Territory from Islamic State, Kerry Says
Wall Street Journal 01/23/2015
New York Times 02/07/2015
Obama’s Dual View of War Power Seeks Limits and Leeway
New York Times 02/11/2015
A weak military in Iraq in 2014-2015, split by sectarian divisions and poorly equipped and trained- in the period following U.S. withdrawal
04/28/2014
The failure of Nouri Maliki to bring together Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. Sunnis see the Maliki government's anti-terrorist effort as ethnic cleanising, the U.S. is wary of the Maliki government and has refrained from supplying the military, the college setup by the U.S. to train officers remains vacant after the U.S. withdrawal at Maliki's insistence. The militants ISIS organization draws from trained officers in the old Iraqi military before the invasion and Sunni militants in Syria. This threatens the ability of the government to maintain peace in the country and creates risks for Iraqi oil supplies and revenues.
Grouped Articles
Fledgling Iraqi Military Is Outmatched on Battlefield
Wall Street Journal 04/28/2014
Sunni Militants Drive Iraqi Army Out of Mosul
New York Times 06/10/2014
Iraqi, U.S. Forces Trade Barbs Over Failures
Wall Street Journal 06/12/2014
Mosul Falls to ISIS, Endangering Iraq’s Democracy
New York Times 06/11/2014
U.S. Said to Rebuff Iraqi Request to Strike Militants
New York Times 06/11/2014
Sunni Fighters Gain as They Battle 2 Governments, and Other Rebels
New York Times 06/11/2014
Kurdistan- history and geography
04/12/2015
Grouped Articles
Would New Borders Mean Less Conflict in the Middle East?
Wall Street Journal 04/12/2015
Wall Street Journal 06/19/2015
Turkey Uneasy as U.S. Support of Syrian Kurds Grows
New York Times 06/29/2015
America’s Marxist Allies Against ISIS
Wall Street Journal 07/25/2015
Sinjar Victory Bolsters Kurds, but Could Further Alienate U.S. From Iraq
New York Times 11/13/2015
On the Front Line Against Islamic State
Wall Street Journal 12/05/2015
U.S.- Kurds relations
06/29/2015
Grouped Articles
Turkey Uneasy as U.S. Support of Syrian Kurds Grows
New York Times 06/29/2015
Turkey Riles U.S. Ally in Fight Against Jihadists
Wall Street Journal 07/28/2015
Sinjar Victory Bolsters Kurds, but Could Further Alienate U.S. From Iraq
New York Times 11/13/2015
On the Front Line Against Islamic State
Wall Street Journal 12/05/2015
Stingy Baghdad Harms the ISIS Fight
Wall Street Journal 12/21/2015
Turkish Tensions With Syrian Kurdish Fighters Strain Ties With U.S.
Wall Street Journal 02/08/2016
The evolution of the war in Syria in different phases after the Arab Spring- 2011-2017
11/18/2015
Liz Sly of the Washington Post provides an excellent account of the different phases of the war in Syria from its beginning in the Arab Spring in 2011 as a democracy protest movement, to rebels fighting the Assad regime, the entry of Russia and Iran into the conflict, to current situation with the Islamic State and other rebel groups in control of different areas in Syria. The war ends up turning half of the Syrian population of 22 million into refugees or displaced status, with millions in refugee camps in Turkey, and hundreds of thousands moving towards Germany for asylum. As the conflict evolves it becomes more complicated than when pro-democracy rebels were fighting the government in Damascus- as Russia intervenes in the conflict and the U.S. stays on the sidelines, the Kurds defending their areas with Turkey worried about Kurdish autonomy, and the Shia-Sunni sectarian aspect dividing the Shia Iran supported government in Iraq and Sunnis in Iraq, and France under Hollande switching earlier policy to conduct an air campaign after terrorist attacks in 2015.
Grouped Articles
The long war against Islamist extremism has become more complicated than ever - The Washington Post
Washington Post 11/18/2015
Teaming up with Russia in Syria could be a dangerous false step for the U.S. - The Washington Post
Washington Post 11/19/2015
NATO faces new Mideast crisis after downing of Russian jet by Turkey - The Washington Post
Washington Post 11/24/2015
Moscow promises retribution after Turkey downs military jet - The Washington Post
Washington Post 11/25/2015
Range of Frustrations Reached Boil as Turkey Shot Down Russian Jet
New York Times 11/25/2015
On the Front Line Against Islamic State
Wall Street Journal 12/05/2015
Iraq's Kurdistan region and the invasion by ISIS in August 2014, the Kurdish U.S. backed response in 2015
08/14/2014
Iran and the U.S. aid the Peshmerga forces to push the ISIS Islamic state militants out of Kurdistan. Maliki steps down as prime minister and a new prime minister who would appeal to both Shia and Sunnis takes over. The failure of Maliki to bring national reconciliation and build a strong national military comprised of Shia and Sunni with the help of the U.S. leads to the collapse of Mosul. The situation with a badly trained and poorly organized Iraqi military and poorly equiped Peshmerga leads to the general collapse as Sunni ISIS militants in Syria push into Iraq in 2014. U.S. airstrikes help prevent the fall of Erbil, capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan region. France moves to aid Kurdistan as the EU fails to come up with a response. By 2015 the situation changed, with U.S. led airstrikes the Kurds had taken Sinjar from ISIS. an agreement.
Grouped Articles
Iraq Crisis: Effort to Aid Kurdish Forces Puts Iran, U.S. on Same Side
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2014
With Maliki Out of the Picture, U.S. Prepares to Boost Iraq Aid
Wall Street Journal 08/16/2014
How to Save Iraq and Honor American Sacrifice
Wall Street Journal 08/15/2014
U.S. Widens Air Campaign in Northern Iraq
Wall Street Journal 08/18/2014
Islamic State Fills Coffers From Illicit Economy in Syria, Iraq
Wall Street Journal 08/28/2014
How Kurds Came to Play Key Role in U.S. Plans to Combat Islamic State
Wall Street Journal 09/09/2014
The insurgency in Iraq in 2014 against the Maliki government's sectarian policies- the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria
06/10/2014
Mosul on the border with Syria is taken by the insurgents ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) who operate on the Syrian side against Assad. Mosul is Iraq's second largest city with different ethnic groups. Foreign fighters operating in Syria have joined the ISIS. Maliki had lost support in Mosul with his increasingly sectarian policies favoring Shiites and marginalizing Sunnis. The Iraqi forces lack training and are poorly organized compared to the insurgents fighting the Assad regime in Syria. The U.S. lost any chance of maintaining peace in the region with policies of the Obama administration distancing itself in Iraq, Syria and towards Iran's non-sectarian democracy movement. With moderates left in the cold in the region, sectarian influences are taking control and undoing the hard work of previous administrations. The hopes of the heavily young demographic oriented Middle East region in 2011-2012 for economic progress are now fading first into religious extremism and then into sectarian religious conflict, with Putin's government in Russia allowed by the Obama administration to pursue reckless policies in Syria against the interests of people in the region. A no fly zone or action of the kind taken in Libya at very small cost to the U.S. was not taken by U.S. president Obama. The failed reelection bid of Sarkozy in France left Britain's prime minister Cameron with no allies to pursue prudent policies in Syria that would have advanced democracy and economic development in the entire region.
Grouped Articles
Sunni Militants Drive Iraqi Army Out of Mosul
New York Times 06/10/2014
Wall Street Journal 06/11/2014
Iraqi, U.S. Forces Trade Barbs Over Failures
Wall Street Journal 06/12/2014
Mosul Falls to ISIS, Endangering Iraq’s Democracy
New York Times 06/11/2014
U.S. Said to Rebuff Iraqi Request to Strike Militants
New York Times 06/11/2014
Sunni Fighters Gain as They Battle 2 Governments, and Other Rebels
New York Times 06/11/2014
U.S. president Obama and the authorization by Congress for the war effort against Islamic State
02/11/2015
Grouped Articles
Obama’s Dual View of War Power Seeks Limits and Leeway
New York Times 02/11/2015
Splits in Islamic State Emerge as Its Ranks Expand
Wall Street Journal 03/10/2015
Defending ISIS Policy, Obama Acknowledges Flaws in Effort So Far
New York Times 05/21/2015
U.S. Embracing a New Approach on Battling ISIS in Iraq
New York Times 06/10/2015
Turkey Uneasy as U.S. Support of Syrian Kurds Grows
New York Times 06/29/2015
Regional Discord Fuels Islamic State’s Rise in Mideast
Wall Street Journal 10/16/2015
Efforts to establish an autonomous Kurdish region in Syria, Iraq's Kurdish Autonomous region, and Turkey
05/21/2011
The developments in Kurdish parts of Syria as the Kurds in Iraq and Syria work to promote a similiar autonomous region for Kurds in Syria, based on the model set by the Autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq headquartered in Erbil.
Grouped Articles
Arabs Ask U.S. to Lead on Syria
Wall Street Journal 05/09/2013
Turkey's Spymaster Plots Own Course on Syria
Wall Street Journal 10/10/2013
In Southern Turkey, Renewed Fears of Sectarian Strife
Wall Street Journal 11/07/2013
In Iraq, growing gap sets Kurdistan apart - The Washington Post
Washington Post 03/10/2012
Kurdish Oil Gambit Hits Troubled Waters
Wall Street Journal 07/22/2014
Iraq Crisis: Effort to Aid Kurdish Forces Puts Iran, U.S. on Same Side
Wall Street Journal 08/14/2014
The PKK and Kurdish peshmerga in the war in Syria and Iraq
07/25/2015
Grouped Articles
America’s Marxist Allies Against ISIS
Wall Street Journal 07/25/2015
Sinjar Victory Bolsters Kurds, but Could Further Alienate U.S. From Iraq
New York Times 11/13/2015
On the Front Line Against Islamic State
Wall Street Journal 12/05/2015
Stingy Baghdad Harms the ISIS Fight
Wall Street Journal 12/21/2015
Islamic State and the crisis in Iraq and Syria in maps - BBC News
BBC News 12/07/2016
Arrival of US troops intensifies struggle for influence in Syria
The Guardian 03/09/2017
Qubad Talabani on the way forward for an Iraq of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds with regional autonomy
12/09/2014
The Kurdish deputy prime minister says centralization is not the way forward and much of the toxic nature of the Maliki regime is now gradually being undone.
Grouped Articles
Saving Iraq in the Post-Maliki Era
Wall Street Journal 12/09/2014
A United Iraq Is Pushing ISIS Back
Wall Street Journal 12/19/2014
In Struggle for National Identity, Iraqis Rally Around Many Flags
New York Times 12/22/2014
To Defeat Islamic State in Iraq, Bridge the Sunni-Shiite Divide
Wall Street Journal 02/13/2015
Wall Street Journal 06/19/2015
On the Front Line Against Islamic State
Wall Street Journal 12/05/2015
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