A series of related events point to a possible endgame scenario in Syria and Iraq.
While the French president has won public approval and international backing for the fight against IS, differences persist about the necessity of coordinating with Russia.
However groundless the Sykes-Picot Agreement, is a Balkanisation of Syria and Iraq really the way forward?
The words ‘precision-guided missiles’ are used to make us think that British warplanes can go there and help the good guys, the so-called moderate rebels, without much, if any, collateral damage.
The west must prioritise civilian wellbeing in any intervention. What might help?
One effective way for western governments to keep their people safe is to press for fundamental reforms in countries where armed extremists thrive, rather than subverting democracy at home.
ISIS has emerged from the wounds of the Arab world—for which the west is to a large extent responsible—and current airstrikes are pouring salt into these wounds.
Mass murder, rape, slavery, and kidnapping; the situation for the Yazidi community is dire and the international community's reponse has been wholly inadequate.
How can the international community respond effectively and promptly to this growing threat, not just to the Middle East region, but to the world?
In the Fedayeen—connected to the global Islamist terrorist movement, combining elements of Ba’athism with an increasingly-stern Salafism—is a microcosm of the Saddam regime’s mutation into Islamic State (ISIS).
For the terrorists, best would be to be left alone to consolidate. Next best would be an epic all-out confrontation with western infidel ground forces. We should not give them what they want.
Blair repeatedly misled parliament and the public over the evidence behind Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, and his ability and intent to use them.
