Iraqi parliament blocks reform
In the wake of ISIL’s offensive into northern Iraq last year, PM Abadi tried to weed out ineptitude and graft in the army and state. Parliament, where corruption and graft are rife and whose members are part of the network of corruption, has blocked Abadi’s reforms.
US effort to find Syrian allies continues to flounder
The US tried to build an armed force in its image over the last few months. That has failed and the program has been dropped. The US is now trying to find reliable partners in preexisting ground forces. Syrian Kurds are one such group but they are thus far reluctant to fight outside of their own territories and to drive on the ISIL capital of Reqaa. Local Arab groups have fewer troops, less organization, and are led by dubious figures.
US concerns over money transferred to Iraq
Last summer the US temporarily cut off funds going to Iraq over worries that some of the money was going to Iran and to ISIL. We leeway know there is insufficient oversight on many US foreign aid programs, but money going to ISIL?
US navy to patrol disputed waters routinely
After sending a destroyer near a reef built up by China into an island, the US has announced intentions to make similar patrols. Two such patrols will occur per quarter. A US admiral is in Beijing today to explain this. Why aren’t other countries in the region demonstrating their own resolve? It seems that the US’s defense treaties over the last seventy years or so have created many free riders.