Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 27, 2014

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with military leaders from 21 nations to discuss strategy in the Middle East during a conference at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Oct 14, 2014. The discussion was part of an ongoing effort to build a coalition and integrate capabilities. DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen

Mr. Obama’s Half-Hearted Fight Against The Islamic State -- Washington Post editorial

AN UNLIKELY consensus is emerging across the ideological spectrum about the war against the Islamic State: President Obama’s strategy to “degrade and eventually destroy” the terrorist entity is unworkable. It’s not just that, as some administration officials say, more time is needed to accomplish complex tasks such as training Iraqi and Syrian forces. It’s that the military means the president has authorized cannot accomplish his announced aims.



As Islamic State forces continue to advance in Iraq’s Anbar province while besieging the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobani, major weaknesses in the U.S.-led campaign have become apparent. One is a relatively modest tempo of airstrikes that in several cases has not been able to turn back advances by enemy forces. Another is the absence of ground trainers, advisers and special forces who could accompany Iraqi and Syrian forces, call in airstrikes and medical assistance, and help formulate tactics. A third is a de facto stance of neutrality toward the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, a stance that has allowed the regime to launch new offensives against the same rebel forces the United States is counting on to fight the Islamic State.



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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 27, 2014

Defeating ISIS: With Whose Boots on the Ground? -- Graham Allison, The Atlantic



Vulnerable to the Islamic State: A former DHS official says we need a “full-court press” to confront the group. -- Ryan Lovelace, NRO



What's the appeal of a caliphate? -- BBC



Was 13-year mission accomplished in Afghanistan? -- CBS News



Afghanistan’s Unending Addiction -- New York Times editorial



Team of Bumblers? Are Susan Rice and Chuck Hagel equal to today’s new national-security challenges? -- Michael Hirsh, Newsweek



Can the War on Terror ever be won? -- Inside Story/Al Jazeera



Is Libya a proxy war? -- Frederic Wehrey, Washington Post



North Korea’s nuclear weapons: Will it ever use them? -- NK News



Can China Rise Peacefully? -- John J. Mearsheimer, National Interest



Tunisia boldly embraces democracy -- Jackson Diehl, Washington Post



Ukrainians Vote to Face West -- Matt Schiavenza, The Atlantic



Putin's Great Gamble -- Nikolas K. Gvosdev, National Interest



The Cold War May Be Over, But the Fight Against Russia Isn’t -- Mark Seip, Defense One



Mexico's Drug War Is Entering A Dark Phase -- Jeremy Bender and Armin Rosen, Business Insider



The Era of Disorder -- Richard N. Haass, Project Syndicate