Opinion  Orly Azoulay
Return to Iraq: Obama's Islamic State quagmire
Orly Azoulay
Published: 17.10.14, 23:42
Comment Comment
Print comment Print comment
Back to article
5 Talkbacks for this article
1. Failure is cumulative
Mhqmmed Qssim ,   Kuwait   (10.18.14)
Obama short term blame is squarely on two things , for one , when he weakened US resolve to Iran , it sent a message to all middle Eastreners , that he guy in WH is weak , second , the red line in Syria was the nail in the coffin for the perception ofbweakness. From a longer term perspective , the West faile to tackle Isamlic zealots when it failed to respond to Iranian conduct espeically in state terrorism .The Westren lack of dealing with Iran in serious way has contributed to the growth of fundamentalism and later to sectarianism ( that is the US allies ) are wary of US policy tword the IS or any other issue for that matter . To make things even more complicated the US increasingly finding it self supporting Iran ( witness the acceptance of Iranian influence if not control in Iraq , and the hesitancy to undo the criminal Assad regime .
2. Orly Azoulay ,...
split ,   US   (10.18.14)
This quagmire was conceived by Likud in Israel, reinforced by your neo-con homies in US and implemented by their pinhead puppet in White House. It wasn't Obama as far as I remember ,... For more on this subject google PNAC and read about PNAC warmongers role in promoting invasion of Iraq and destabilizing Middle East ,... Here're some of them that signed an open letters to Pres. Clinton and Pres. Bush, coincidentally 9 out of 10 are your homies ,... Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol, John Lehman, I. Lewis Libby, Tod Lindberg, Rich Lowry, Clifford May, John McCain, Joshua Muravchik, Michael E. O'Hanlon, Martin Peretz, Richard Perle, Daniel Pipes, Norman Podhoretz, Peter W. Rodman, Stephen P. Rosen, Donald Rumsfeld, Randy Scheunemann, Gary Schmitt, William Schneider, Jr., Richard H. Shultz, Henry Sokolski, Stephen J. Solarz, Vin Weber, Leon Wieseltier, Marshall Wittmann, Paul Wolfowitz, R. James Woolsey, Dov Zakheim, Robert B. Zoellick to name few ,....
3. Can he win the war he never wanted?
Calibi ,   Sydney Aust   (10.18.14)
No he cannot!!!.......anyone other than hussein obama, = with his support Egypt was in chaos Christians and minorities were massacred and hussein obama on n on have the same result. If it's not the sacrifice of two Americans that draw the heat and pressure of the public hussein probably watch the slaughter of innocent and say allah akbar!
4. this is not a war America can win decisively...
Rafi ,   US   (10.18.14)
Forget about formal borders... This is all about ethnic if not religious regions. The only major land power with possible long-term staying-ability in the Sunni Arab areas of former Syria and Iraq is TURKEY... and even its ability is limited and would be resisted by Arabs. The next best step for the US to counter ISIS is to massively strengthen the Kurds in all their areas: Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. At least you would then have a bulwark in some areas that could not be overrun by ISIS, a reliable location for bases, etc. Forget about Iraq and the "Iraqi army"... there is no such thing. That is where Panetta & the others are wrong. It would not have made a difference long term if the US tried to maintain forces in "Iraq". Understand this: in reality Iraq already no longer exists... there are only Shia, sunni & Kurdish areas of former Iraq. time to move on... Humpty Dumpty is not coming together again...
5. To Raoul Schur - I Quote you -
Arn. ,   Sweden.   (10.18.14)
"Biggest puzzle to me is why the U.S. public chose him not only once but TWICE !" Comment - Remember the strength of a chain is in its weakest link -The US people. Arn.Sweden.
Back to article