The liberation of Mosul is going to be the bloodiest, most bitterly-fought urban campaign since Stalingrad
The battle for Mosul will end in tragedy for hundreds of thousands of the city's inhabitants. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi recently told the UN that the campaign to liberate Mosul would begin within weeks. He predicted victory by year’s end. U.S. Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has confirmed an imminent campaign. The…
If the arc of Iran's influence grows, on the strength of new nuclear capacity, the whole dynamic in the region will change
The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran, and the steady expansion of Tehran’s influence, increasingly prompts the reorientation of Middle East politics along a Sunni-Shia axis. A recent report claimed a secret agreement allows Iran to restore “its full uranium enrichment capacity,” on the 10th anniversary of signing the nuclear agreement. The leak came from the International Atomic Energy Agency,…
As July dwindles down into August, here are a few personal reflections on three of the month’s big stories – Greece, Iran, and the brouhaha about Atticus Finch. It was obvious from the get-go that Greece was placing all its chips on the belief that the Northern Europeans, particularly the Germans, would ultimately agree to…
The battle for Mosul will end in tragedy for hundreds of thousands of the city's inhabitants. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi recently told the UN that the campaign to liberate Mosul would begin within weeks. He predicted victory by year’s end. U.S. Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has confirmed an imminent campaign. The…
