Reuters (September 28)
“Along with the ongoing decimation of Iraq’s Sunni population,” the Kurdish referendum “means that in practice ‘Iraq’ no longer exists. In its place is a Shiite state dominated by Iran, the de facto new nation of Kurdistan, and a shrinking population of Sunnis tottering between annihilation or reservation-like existence, depending on whether the United States uses the last of its influence to sketch out red lines or abandons the people to fate.”00
Tags: Annihilation, Decimation, Influence, Iran, Iraq, Kurdistan, Kurds, Referendum, Shiite, Sunni, U.S.
Chicago Tribune (November 20)
“How many refugees from Syria, Iraq or anywhere, for that matter, have committed acts of terrorism in the United States? Well, zero seems to be the answer.” And yet, out of an abundance of caution, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to restrict Syrian refugees. Talk about misplaced priorities. “When it comes to an actual threat — the near certainty that thousands of Americans will be slaughtered next year and every year going forward by guns in the wrong hands and by guns designed for the efficient killing of human beings — our lawmakers and state chief executives are inert.”
USA Today (September 11)
“Fourteen years ago, the United States suffered a shockingly successful surprise attack by a little known Islamic extremist group based 7,000 miles away in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.” Today, Al-Qaeda’s “influence lives on…through offshoot extremist groups,” especially the Islamic State (ISIL) whose “lightning spread” throughout “Syria and Iraq has been marked by medieval barbarity, adapted to the Internet age.” The U.S. must pursue ISIL as aggressively as it once pursued al-Quaeda. “ISIL represents the embodiment of evil in the modern world, and it mustn’t be allowed to establish a foothold from which to plot attacks against the United States or to inspire so-called lone wolf sympathizers to do so.”
Tags: Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Barbarity, Extremists, Iraq, ISIL, Syria, Taliban, U.S. Islam
Institutional Investor (October 10)
“As refugees from Syria and Iraq flood across the border and, the real economy suffers, Lebanon’s central bank is looking to start-up lending as a way to boost growth.” Despite an influx of 1.3 million refugees (roughly a third of its pre-crisis population), Lebanon’s “economy has remained intact. Growth, while meager, is still projected to reach 1.8 percent this year….Much of this resilience is down to the creativity of the central bank” and the novel approaches it is adopting.
Tags: Border, Central bank, Creativity, Economy, Growth, Iraq, Lebanon, Lending, Refugees, Resilience, Start-ups, Syria
Washington Post (September 8)
The Islamic State has already “seized far more of Iraq and Syria than is compatible with the safety and human rights of the people living there, and its sights are set on further destabilization in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Kurdistan, as well as terror attacks in Europe and, if it’s capable of them, the United States.” It is delusional to think this “murderous terrorist army” can simply be “contained” or “managed.”
Tags: Contained, Destabilization, Europe, Human rights, Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Kurdistan, Managed, Safety, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Terror attacks, Terrorist army, U.S.
Washington Post (August 21)
“With each day, the barbarism of the Islamist extremists terrorizing Syria and Iraq becomes more evident—as does the need for the United States and its allies to act more vigorously to block their rise.”
USA Today (July 2)
“Any traveler to the Middle East today can feel the tidal wave sweeping the area. The Arab Awakening is now a distant memory, and the hopes for democracy have been replaced by the black flags of al-Qaeda,” except they are now known as ISIS. The threat is not limited to the Middle East. “If al-Qaeda, from its sanctuary in Afghanistan, could produce 9/11, imagine the threats ISIS can pose from the much larger area in Iraq and Syria.”
Tags: Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda, Arab Awakening, Democracy, Iraq, ISIS, Middle East, Syria, Threat, Traveler
Washington Post (June 20)
Iraq’s unraveling poses a “confounding” challenge for the U.S. “Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has put sectarian interests above national goals, so to join him in beating back the terrorist challenge might only widen the country’s divide. But… an al-Qaeda-style ‘caliphate’ stretching from Syria into Iraq would be too dangerous for the United States and its allies.” By sending aid and military advisers, President Obama’s modest steps toward engagement “represent a judicious start.”
Tags: Advisors, Aid, Al-Qaeda, Challenge, Engagement, Iraq, Judicious, Maliki, Obama, Sectarian, Syria, Terrorists, U.S.
New York Times (June 18)
“President Obama has, so far, struck the right note on Iraq…. He has been cautious— emphasizing the need for political reform in Iraq and reaching out to other countries that could have an impact on its fate.”
Wall Street Journal (June 13)
“The magnitude of the debacle now unfolding in Iraq is becoming clearer by the day.” The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has seized control of Mosul and Tikrit, and is “marching ever closer to Baghdad….An extended civil war seems to be the best near-term possibility.”
