Getting ISIS out of Iraq
Despite being criticized for lacking a strategy, the United States and its allies have made significant gains against the Islamic State. Over the past year, the areas it controlled that were most threatening to our regional allies in Iraq and Syria have shrunk by more than a third. The Islamic State’s fighters have been pushed […]Robert A. Pape writes in the New York Times:
Despite being criticized for lacking a strategy, the United States and its allies have made significant gains against the Islamic State. Over the past year, the areas it controlled that were most threatening to our regional allies in Iraq and Syria have shrunk by more than a third. The Islamic State’s fighters have been pushed back from the Mosul Dam in Kurdish Iraq, the town of Kobani in Syria, and, most recently, the Iraqi city of Tikrit, making the largest Kurdish and Shiite population centers vastly safer.
After the Obama administration’s announcement of plans to retake Mosul, understanding what works in the fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is crucial. Many question whether the Mosul offensive is feasible. It is — but overall success against the Islamic State depends on the United States sticking to the strategy it has: the hammer and the anvil.
