All Backchannels
A self-declared Iraqi 'caliph' wants to rule the world. Can he?Almost certainly not, as a look at recent writing on the question shows.
The Iraqi army the US spent billions building is a disasterAnd if a small fortune spent over nearly 10 years, along with tens of thousands of American military trainers, didn't work, what can a few hundred advisers hope to do?
After three Israeli teens found dead will the revenge cycle be ratcheted up?Israel holds most of the cards now and the killers are not yet known. But if the past is any indication, things are due to get a lot hotter in Israel and Palestine.
Jihadis in Iraq and Syria declare a caliphate? Why that's good.The wars in Iraq and Syria will rage on. But the declaration by ISIS, the biggest jihadi army fighting in Syria and Iraq, that it's now a 'caliphate' should accelerate the group's inevitable failure.
People who are making sense about IraqIt's worth listening to those who've devoted their lives to studying war and the region.
Obama isn't the problem in Iraq. It's Maliki 鈥� and Iraqi politicsIraqi politicians have proven for a decade now that they're pursuing their own interests 鈥� not American ones.
Iraq's crisis: Who's involved and what can they do about it?Sunni Arab militants, with a jihadi group in the lead, have dealt a stunning series of defeats to the Iraqi central government in recent days.
Iraq's Mosul crisis creates strange bedfellowsISIS victories in Iraq could put Saudi Arabia and the US onside with the Syrian regime.聽
Why Mosul's fall is a signature moment in IraqThe city's takeover by Al Qaeda insurgents is a devastating military setback for the Maliki government 鈥� and a measure of the political failure of post-Saddam Iraq.
Why not call the Las Vegas attack an act of domestic terrorism?'Terrorism' is an overused word that tends to obscure more than it reveals. But the reluctance to use it to describe the Las Vegas attackers is troubling.
In Bergdahl, a projection of our views on America's long and inconclusive warsA look behind the attacks and counterattacks on a US soldier who spent five years in Taliban captivity.
Why closure of Kyrgyzstan air base is point of no return for Afghan warManas base was crucial for the transit of NATO soldiers and supplies into Afghanistan. The closure Tuesday 鈥� little remarked on by the US press 鈥� short circuits debate on more troops for Afghanistan.
What Obama's former Syria ambassador really thinks of US policyRobert Ford resigned as US ambassador to Syria earlier this year, and this week he broke his silence, harshly criticizing the Obama administration's response to the three-year war.
American paranoia and Bowe BergdahlThe Taliban prisoner swap for Bowe Bergdahl might do some good, but fear and anger are getting in the way of a realistic appraisal.
Five Taliban released for Sgt. Bergdahl? This is how wars end.A prisoner swap with sworn enemies is never pleasant. But sometimes, it's necessary.
Is Edward Snowden a 'real' spy?And does it really matter?
Russia blames West for everything that's happening in UkraineRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says when it comes to Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in other parts of Ukraine's east, Europe and the US made them do it.
Can Thailand's coup break the country's deep political impasse? (Update +video)Thailand's latest coup was presented as a way to bring the nation back to "peace and love." But if not handled carefully, it could lead to more bloodshed.
A jail sentence for Egypt's Mubarak on corruption holds little sign of real changeFormer President Hosni Mubarak was given a three-year jail sentence for embezzling $17 million. But Egypt's current elite, largely identical to its old one, is unlikely to stop using the government for personal enrichment.
Assange threatens to release Snowden info that Greenwald says could endanger livesJulian Assange attacked Glenn Greenwald yesterday for a redaction in a recent story based on Snowden's NSA documents. Greenwald said it was done to save lives.聽
