In 2014, the defeats by ISIS led to the fall of Nuri al-Maliki’s Iraqi Shia supremacist regime in August, and his replacement by the more moderate and inclusive Haider al-Abadi. But the Iraqi Army’s morale …
My last post examined Islamic State as a global terrorist entity—a complex and constantly evolving threat. This two-part post focuses more tightly on the unfolding war against ISIS in Iraq. Here things are much clearer: …
Tony Abbott’s decision to join US-led airstrikes in Syria brought a degree of legal and military coherence to Australia’s role in the fight against Islamic State (IS). Confining military action to the territory of Iraq has …
Military engagement can’t be devised or judged in isolation from its strategic objectives. It is tactical—a means to a strategic or political end. And this places a necessarily weighty responsibility on decision makers to have …
The rise of Islamic State jihadists in Iraq and Syria continues to shock and horrify us. We are all familiar with the crimes against humanity: the videotaped beheadings, the grisly torture, the ritualized rape, the …