Last month, President Barack Obama reportedly wrote a private letter to Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seeking to tie the fight against the Islamic State group to the ongoing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. The White House purportedly sought to pressure Iran into reaching an agreement by the November 24 diplomatic deadline by hinting that failing to do so would affect American efforts against the Islamic State group.
With the Islamic State group on the march again and Baghdad under new threats, it is a good time take care of some unfinished business in Iraq.
The Obama administration’s strategy for destroying the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, forces the United States to take sides in Syria’s civil war. But in a three-way war, that can mean taking the wrong side.
Last week, President Barack Obama pledged to destroy the Islamic State group (also known as ISIS or ISIL). It is worth asking what that means, and whether the United States can actually do it.
The State Department says that Islamic State terrorists were not sending the United States a message when they beheaded American photojournalist James Foley.
Uh, yes, they were.