One 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 ArticleThe tightrope of foreign intervention in Iraq
The expansion and barbarity of the Islamic State group leaves no doubt that it must be stopped without delay. On August 12 Amnesty International released a statement accusing the group of "ethnic...
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 ArticleSyrian crisis simplified: Who's fighting whom, and why?
One nation, two wars, a quarter-million lives lost, millions forced from their homes, and still no end in sight for the pitiless, seemingly bottomless crisis in Syria. The U.S., Russia and a collection...
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 —...
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