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Author Archives: Charles Duelfer
ISIS or ISIL or IS? Does it matter?
The President gave his speech on strategy towards ISIL…except everyone calls it ISIS in the West. ISIL is Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and ISIS is Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or al Shams, which is roughly … Continue reading
Video Driven Policy vs. Strategy
The need for a strategy on ISIS was provoked by the videos of Americans being barbarically executed. A year ago, there was horrible video of Sarin use against civilians in Syria. That provoked action by the White House. In both … Continue reading
ISIS – Next Steps
The President is now stuck with the ISIS problem. It is his, not former President Bush’s. The rest of his term may be defined by how he deals with ISIS, in some ways as Bush was defined by how he … Continue reading
Posted in Intelligence, Iran, Iraq, ISIL, ISIS, Russia, Sunni, Terrorism
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Obama Learns of Malaysian Aircraft Destruction form Putin?!
The Malaysian aircraft destruction is tragic, but not unique. Commercial Airliners have been shot down before. In 1983 the Soviet air defense fighters shot down a Korean Airlines 747 that had strayed off course, impinged on Soviet airspace and the … Continue reading
Don’t Trade Iraq for an Iran Nuclear “Agreement”
There will come a time, and that may be right now, when Washington has to decide if any deal on Iran nuclear programs is more important than the risk faced from ISIS in Iraq. So far it looks like we … Continue reading
Extremists at Former Saddam CW Facility
The Wall Street Journal reports ISIL extremists at a former Iraqi CW facility. The Muthana State Establishment was a huge facility where the Saddam government produced tons of anthrax and sarin. Most of it used against the Iranians in the … Continue reading
Give the Sunnis an Alternative NOW!
Unless President Obama says something fast to give secular Sunnis some hope that the US will take their interests seriously this time, they have no alternative to ISIS. Say something to the Sunnis! Give them an alternative! And it has … Continue reading
Posted in Intelligence, Iran, Iraq, ISIS, Sunni, United Nations
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Iraq – So What to Do?
A possible path ahead is to take advantage of the post election negotiations and configure a leadership that accommodates Sunni interests. This would by necessity mean someone other than Maliki becoming Prime Minister. Someone (possibly an American, but I doubt … Continue reading
Posted in Iran, Iraq, United Nations
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Maliki is the problem, not the solution
Prime Minister Maliki, who is in midst of negotiating a government in aftermath of the recent Iraqi elections, has asked for US support including airstrikes. The last thing we should do now is further imbed ourselves with Maliki. This is … Continue reading
Posted in Financial Wars, Iran, Iraq, United Nations
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Cascading Chaos in Iraq
Watching the disintegration of Iraq is a horror. Many predicted this. There were Iraqis reaching out to the US and others pointing out that there were large numbers of Iraqis who, if continually cut off from a role in the … Continue reading
Posted in Iran, Iraq, United Nations
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