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ISIS Makes Gains in Western Iraq
Editor's Note: There will be no Daily Brief on Monday, February 16. The DB will resume on Tuesday, February 17.
ISIS fighters seized (Reuters) large parts of the town of al-Baghdadi in western Iraq on Thursday, near an air base where U.S. Marines are training Iraqi forces. The attack comes after U.S. President Barack Obama submitted (NYT)
his request to Congress for authorization of military action, including
the use ground forces, in the fight against ISIS. Meanwhile, the UN
Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution (AFP) to block the flow of funds to ISIS from the illicit sale of oil and antiquities and ransom payments. ISIS also claimed on Thursday that it captured an Israeli spy (Haaretz)
in Syria; Israel and the man's family deny links to Mossad, saying that
he traveled to Syria to join the ISIS ranks three months ago.
Analysis
"Defeating ISIS is only the beginning.
The fight against violent extremists will not be decided on the
battlefield alone. It will be decided in classrooms, workplaces, houses
of worship, community centers, urban street corners, and halls of
government. And it will be decided by the success of our efforts to stop
terrorist recruitment," argues U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in
Project Syndicate.
"Congress
seems likely to end up approving some sort of resolution. Still, the
debates will provide an opportunity for people to consider the stakes,
and to think hard about the conflict. A ground war against ISIS is
likely to be bloody and extended. And, even if it succeeds militarily,
the United States and its allies will face the same task they goofed up
the last time around: putting together a stable and democratic Iraq,"
writes John Cassidy in the New Yorker.
"But
to our allies and enemies in the Middle East this [deadline], along
with the restriction on the use of ground combat forces, sends a message of irresolution
that will make it tough for our troops to accomplish their mission,"
writes CFR's Max Boot on President Obama's anti-ISIS war powers request
to Congress in Commentary. | 
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