Ground Forces Can Only Wipe Out Islamic State
By Manish Rai Islamic State again has proved its striking capability beyond Iraq and. Recently the so-called soldiers of the caliphate appear to have demonstrated a chilling reach, with terrorist...
View ArticleThe long war against Islamist extremism has become more complicated than ever
BAGHDAD — With the attacks in Paris and the downing of a Russian passenger plane, the Islamic State has declared war on the wider world, galvanizing new calls for an intensified global effort to defeat...
View ArticleNo, we can’t just ‘bomb the hell out of ISIS,’ Donald Trump
In a new round of radio ads, Donald Trump lays out his strategy for defeating the Islamic State which has taken responsibility for the Paris attacks that killed 129 people. His solution? "Bomb the hell...
View ArticleUS airdrops ammunition to Syrian Arab rebels
BEIRUT/WASHINGTON: US forces airdropped small arms ammunition and other supplies to Syrian Arab rebels, barely two weeks after Russia raised the stakes in the long-running civil war by intervening on...
View ArticleSyria A Strategic Blunder By United States
By Manish Rai Despite years of diplomacy and a CIA operation to equip and train moderate rebels, the US finds itself without a credible partner on the ground in Syria as it bombs the Islamic State....
View ArticleThreat posed by Islamic State is overstated
The United States has a tradition of misinterpreting the Middle East. President George W. Bush invaded Iraq in 2003 with misplaced certainty, misconstrued assumptions and poor foresight. After the Arab...
View ArticleRejecting an Alliance with Syria to Counter the Islamic State is Madness
The rapid military advances made in recent months by the Islamic State, the radical jihadist organization that declared a caliphate over territories belonging to Iraq and Syria in June, has yet again...
View ArticleKurds drive Islamic State fighters from strategic border crossing
ARBIL, IRAQ / MURSITPINAR, TURKEY— Iraqi Kurdish troops drove Islamic State fighters from a strategic border crossing with Syria on Tuesday and won the support of members of a major Sunni tribe, in one...
View ArticleOne year after shocking capture of Mosul, Islamic State remains formidable
IRBIL, Iraq (Tribune News Service) — One year after the Islamic State stormed out of eastern Syria to take control of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, last June 10, it remains a formidable force,...
View ArticleUS airdrops arms to Syria rebels as part of revamped strategy to fight...
In a major boost for forces fighting Islamic State extremists in Syria but likely to stir controversy with Nato ally Turkey, the United States began airdropping pallets of weapons and ammunition to its...
View ArticleA long way from success: Assessing the war on the Islamic State (Brookings...
(Source: Brookings Institution) I. Articles A Long Way from Success: Assessing the War on the Islamic State by Charles Lister Abstract Since the U.S.-led coalition initiated military action against the...
View ArticleU.S., Allies Launch 29 Airstrikes Against ISIS Targets In Iraq, Syria on New...
Fighters, bombs and remotely controlled aircraft were used against Islamic State, which has taken parts of Syria and Iraq in a bloody campaign to establish an Islamic caliphate. Bombers and drones were...
View ArticleCaliphate of Fear: The Curse of the Islamic State
Images of Yazidis fleeing parts of Iraq and Syria have shocked the world and the battle against the jihadists with the Islamic State has united Americans, Europeans, Kurds and Iranians. Can the...
View ArticleKurds seize Iraq/Syria border post; Sunni tribe joins fight against Islamic...
ARBIL Iraq/MURSITPINAR Turkey (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdish troops drove Islamic State fighters from a strategic border crossing with Syria on Tuesday and won the support of members of a major Sunni tribe,...
View ArticlePossible collapse of Kurdish militia may have spurred US action, analysts say
Launching airstrikes against Sunni militants in northern Iraq is aimed as much at supporting the Kurdish militia, a staunch U.S. ally for the past two decades, as it is at protecting U.S. personnel and...
View ArticleBritain and the bombing of Isis: eight questions raised by the vote for war
The pros and cons of fighting Islamic State – and what might happen next...
View ArticleThe Seinfeld War — a US Mideast policy about nothing
A little less conversation, a little more action, please. When it comes to the Mideast, Elvis’ famous lyrics had it right. Yet President Obama opts for the “Seinfeld” approach instead: His is a...
View ArticleA look at combatants in the air and on the ground in Syria
BEIRUT (AP) Russia is the latest country to enter Syria's complex conflict that killed 250,000 people and displaced half of the country's prewar population since March 2011. Here is a look at the...
View ArticleKurdish Forces in Iraq Advance Against IS Fighters
VOA News Kurdish fighters launched a series of attacks against Islamic State positions Tuesday in Iraq, supported by the Iraqi military and the U.S.-led coalition. U.S. Central Command said 11...
View ArticlePro-Regime Forces Abandon Political Solution In Syria
BEIRUT -- After more than four years of gridlock fighting, forces loyal to the Syrian regime are convinced that Russian military action in Syria is the catalyst that will propel Syria’s civil war to...
View ArticleKurdish militia proving to be reliable partner against Islamic State in Syria
WASHINGTON — Nearly a year into a bombing campaign intended to degrade and destroy the Islamic State, the United States finally may have found a reliable partner on the ground in Syria. In comments...
View ArticleDefense secretary praises Kurdish militia's help on ground in Syria
WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) — Almost a year into a bombing campaign intended to degrade and destroy the Islamic State group, the United States finally may have found a reliable partner on the...
View ArticleOnly ground forces can wipe out Islamic State
By Manish Rai Islamic State has again proved its striking capability beyond Iraq and Syria. The so-called soldiers of the caliphate appear to have underscored their chilling reach — with terrorist...
View ArticleIran sends troops to help Assad in Syria; Russia hits rebels
Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria to join a major ground offensive in support of President Bashar Assad’s government, Lebanese sources said on Thursday, a sign that the civil war is...
View ArticleUS airdrops ammunition to Syria rebels
DAMASCUS: United States (US) forces airdropped small arms ammunition and other supplies to Syrian Arab rebels, barely two weeks after Russia raised the stakes in the long-running civil war by...
View ArticleObama's attack plan for ISIS differs from Iraq War strategy
WASHINGTON— The military offensive ordered by President Obama against marauding Islamic State militants barely resembles the grinding ground war that the United States waged in Iraq from 2003 to 2011 —...
View ArticleIslamic State under pressure as Kurds take Syrian town
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Kurdish forces dealt a blow to Islamic State by capturing an important town on Friday in the latest stage of a powerful offensive in northeast Syria, a Kurdish militia spokesman...
View ArticleIS could ultimately force West to consider invasion
CAIRO (AP) - This is the fundamental contradiction, after Paris: Few in the West want to send ground troops to Syria and Iraq to battle the Islamic State group, but it may be even harder to find anyone...
View ArticleIslamic State could ultimately force West to consider invasion
CAIRO — This is the fundamental contradiction, after Paris: Few in the West want to send ground troops to Syria and Iraq to battle the Islamic State group, but it may be even harder to find anyone who...
View ArticleAP Interview: Iraq premier nixes US ground troops
BAGHDAD (AP) Iraq's new prime minister ruled out stationing U.S. ground troops in his country, chiding the international community Wednesday for inaction in Syria and lamenting the "puzzling"...
View ArticleISIS Will Become More Deadly Before It Dies
As ISIS faces a stepped-up air and ground campaign in the aftermath of the Paris attacks, there is a good chance the group will lose more territory in Iraq and Syria. But if history is any guide, ISIS...
View ArticleIslamic State defies air strikes by shelling Syrian Kurdish town
BEIRUT/MURSITPINAR, Turkey - New U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State fighters failed to stop them from pressing their assault on a strategic Syrian town near the Turkish border on Saturday,...
View ArticleIn Islamic State's global reach, new risks for jihadists – and the West
In launching a flurry of devastating attacks in the skies above Egypt’s Sinai and in Beirut and Paris, the self-described Islamic State appears to have embarked upon a new strategy to lash out against...
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