The collapse of the Islamic State nation will have a profound effect on the organization but it will not eliminate its ongoing presence
The Islamic State (IS) is rapidly nearing collapse. But the end of IS is not nearly in sight. IS has lost control of eastern Mosul to a coalition of the Iraqi military and Kurdish, Shia and Sunni militias supported by the U.S. and its NATO allies. That same coalition, which has held together despite a…
So far, Islamic State forces have stopped short of using civilians as a buffer between its and the advancing Iraqi military
The campaign to liberate Mosul, Iraq, now in its 12th week, has gone about as expected – Islamic State forces are not leaving their stronghold quietly. Iraqi forces, backed by Sunni militias and Kurdish Peshmerga units, have steadily advanced into the eastern half of Mosul. At the same time, Shiite militia units have besieged the town…
To the KGB-schooled “hard men” of the Kremlin, dealing with the Obama administration is akin to taking candy from a baby
The Syrian ceasefire has collapsed. At best it survived 48 hours. In reality it was stillborn. The UN Security Council is expected to take up a resolution in the next few days calling for a new ceasefire, but given Russia’s veto on the Security Council, the deliberations will go nowhere. Perhaps it’s time for U.S. Secretary…
After an absence of almost a century, mustard gas is about to return to the modern battlefield
A little more than 100 years ago, at the Second Battle of Ypres, the German Army unleashed the first large scale use of poison gas on the Western Front. Following a two-day bombardment, the German Army simultaneously released 168 tons of chlorine gas over a four-mile front. The panic that resulted opened a four-mile gap…
Even if the U.S. succeeds in rolling back the Islamic State, one or more rebel alliances committed to Sharia law will rise up in its place
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have announced another ceasefire in the Syrian civil war. The end result is unlikely to be positive. Ostensibly, the purpose of the ceasefire is to allow aid convoys from Turkey to bring badly-needed supplies to the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo. Some 250,000 people…
The objective is to prevent the seizure of the portion of Aleppo province by U.S.-supported Syrian Democratic Forces
Turkish military forces have crossed into Syria to oust Islamic State (IS) militants from the border area. The first objective was Jarabulus, an IS stronghold along the Turkish-Syrian border. It has been used to bring jihadists into Syria and smuggle out antiquities and oil. The Turkish intervention, dubbed Operation Euphrates Shield, is being supported by U.S. and…
From the Kremlin’s standpoint, the 'Syrian ceasefire' served its political purpose – it forestalled a Turkish ground invasion of Syria
The ceasefire in Syria is unravelling – and that's no surprise. Mohammad Alloush, chief negotiator for the Army of Islam, one of the principal rebel coalitions fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has just stepped down from the Geneva peace talks. In doing so, he criticized the United States and Russia for their inability to enforce “adherence…
ISIS and the delegates to COP21 are all purveyors of apocalyptic ideologies
Oliver Tickell, website editor of the British magazine The Ecologist, wondered whether the ISIS attacks in Paris were motivated by a desire to undermine the UN climate summit opening next week, the 21st in the series of Conferences of Parties meetings – COP21 for short. Reducing oil production, one of the goals of COP21, would…
Islamic terrorists are not the only group of religious people who commit violence
“La foi n’a rien à voir avec la morale.” Faith has nothing to do with morality. We came upon this piece of graffiti three years ago while in Tournon in southern France. It could have been written yesterday in response to the Islamic terrorist attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people and wounded…
"By making Syrian refugees the enemy, we are playing into (the terrorists') hands"
If ever there was a lame excuse to turn away Syrian refugees, it is to be found in the straw man that opening our doors to desperate people will allow terrorists to sneak into our country. No question, Justin Trudeau’s pledge to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by Jan. 1, 2016 will strain our authorities to…