Situation report: Iraq first, or Syria
New day, old tensions. For the first time in months, there’s some real tension building over where the U.S.-led coalition should focus bombing efforts in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. After a cluster of 16 airstrikes around the jihadist headquarters in Raqqa on July 4 aimed at wiping out some […]Paul McLeary with Adam Rawnsley write for Foreign Policy :
New day, old tensions. For the first time in months, there’s some real tension building over where the U.S.-led coalition should focus bombing efforts in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. After a cluster of 16 airstrikes around the jihadist headquarters in Raqqa on July 4 aimed at wiping out some of the group’s resupply routes – and following days of airstrikes supporting Kurdish offensives in Syria’s northwest — Syria has again been thrown into the spotlight. But the dramatic Kurdish advances are making Washington’s Arab allies on the ground nervous, with Syrians and the Turkish government warning that the Kurds are engaging in a land grab.
