David Ignatius's Blog, page 123

GOP senators’ letter to Iran is dangerous and irresponsible

Even by congressional Republican standards, the naysaying letter to Iran sent Monday by 47 GOP senators was grossly irresponsible. Not only did it undercut President Obama’s ability to negotiate a diplomatic agreement, but it also undermined the aspect of the Iran nuclear deal that would potentially be most beneficial to the United States and Israel.Read full article >>

Killing top terrorists is not enough

Gen. John Allen, the retired Marine who is coordinating the campaign against the Islamic State, gave an upbeat briefing to Congress last week. He said that because of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition, the group has “lost half of its Iraq-based leadership and thousands of hardened fighters.” Read full article >>

Netanyahu’s zero-sum game on Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lobbied powerfully against a nuclear agreement with Iran in a well-crafted speech to Congress on Tuesday. The problem is that he has now created a zero-sum game with the Obama administration, in which either the president or the prime minister seems likely to come out a loser.Read full article >>

America is the ally that Egypt needs

The Obama administration’s decision to engage Egypt is “a case of realpolitik over idealism,” concedes one official. But it’s also the right policy choice.President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi certainly doesn’t make it easy. His repression of dissent now rivals that of deposed president Hosni Mubarak. His campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood has broadened to include suppression of secular activists, some of whom helped bring him to power in 2013. Sissi’s subversion of democracy adds another sad chapter to the vexed modern history of Egypt.Read full article >>

A compelling argument on Iran

Prussian King Frederick the Great offered this rebuke to those who refused to allow any concessions: “If you try to hold everything, you hold nothing.” President Obama might make a similar retort to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attack on the alleged “bad deal” the United States is contemplating with Iran. Netanyahu rejects any concessions that allow Iran to enrich uranium; he thinks the U.S. goal of a one-year “breakout” period before Iran could build a bomb isn’t enough. Read full article >>

Why Netanyahu broke publicly with Obama over Iran

TEL AVIVThe public rift between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Iranian nuclear issue is often described as a personality dispute. But a senior Israeli official argued this week that the break has been building for more than two years and reflects a deep disagreement about how best to limit the threat of a rising Iran.Read full article >>

Jordan leads the Arab world in the fight against extremists

AMMAN, JordanOne of the weaknesses of the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State is that America isn’t trusted as a messenger in much of the Arab world. So it is important that Jordan’s King Abdullah II seems ready to play an unusually visible role in organizing Arab opposition to the extremists.Read full article >>

A perfect storm brews in the Middle East

TEL AVIV — Mistrust between the Obama administration and Benjamin Netanyahu has widened even further in recent days because of U.S. suspicion that the Israeli prime minister has authorized leaks of details about the U.S. nuclear talks with Iran.Read full article >>

In Iraq, Kirkuk remains a question mark

KIRKUK, IraqThe view from the roof of Gov. Najmaldin Karim’s office shows this multiethnic city laid out below. He points toward the Sunni suburb of Huwija about 15 miles west, which is controlled by the Islamic State. Two weeks ago, the extremists staged a ferocious assault there that almost broke through Kirkuk’s defense lines. Read full article >>

The Kurds need weapons, now

MOUNT BATMA, Iraq — From the heights here, you have a panoramic view of the strategic territory west of Mosul that Kurdish peshmerga fighters, supported by U.S. warplanes, have won back from the Islamic State over the past month. The main road linking Mosul with the Syrian border has been cut and nearly 100 square miles have been liberated.Read full article >>