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Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Iraq Illusions


Iraq Illusions

The following article will appear in the August 14 issue of The New York Review, on sale at the end of July.
The story most media accounts tell of the recent burst of violence in Iraq seems clear-cut and straightforward. In reality, what is happening is anything but. The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), so the narrative goes, a barbaric, jihadi militia, honed in combat in Syria, has swept aside vastly larger but feckless Iraqi army forces in a seemingly unstoppable tide of conquest across northern and western Iraq, almost to the outskirts of Baghdad. The country, riven by ineluctable sectarian conflict, stands on the brink of civil war. The United States, which left Iraq too soon, now has to act fast, choosing among an array of ugly options, among them renewed military involvement and making common cause with Iran. Alternatives include watching Iraq splinter and the creation of an Islamist caliphate spanning eastern Syria and western Iraq.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/aug/14/iraq-illusions/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=July+15+2014&utm_content=July+15+2014+CID_6a2b95aa8acb30f226689d96cfb76525&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software

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