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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