The Iraq Catastrophe

What is now happening in Iraq had already been predicted, and analysts’ worst fears are coming true. The new Iraqi army set up by the United States is near worthless; soldiers and officers left their posts the first chance they got. The jihadis, who do not seem numerous, have taken Mosul and are less than 60 miles from Baghdad. Over 150,000 people have left their homes.

On the other hand, the Kurds are well-organized. Their army defended its territory and even took the city of Kirkuk, which was abandoned by Iraqi troops and in danger of falling into the hands of Muslim fundamentalist armies.

It is the weakness and incompetence of the Iraqi armed forces that is most worrying because American military advisers are probably still on site — even though the American government will not admit it.

The coming days are crucial for Iraq. Unless the Iraqi army wins a major victory over the fundamentalist Muslim forces, the days of U.S.-controlled Iraq are numbered.

The United States still faces the same problem. The American military is the best in the world; a military victory is nearly certain. But the political know-how of American military leaders stationed across the world is really pathetic — hence Americans win their wars militarily, but lose them politically.

Are the world’s fundamentalist religious forces less powerful in 2014 than after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks? No, they are more powerful than ever. One problem, and not the least of many, is that the United States itself is grappling with various fundamentalist religious forces; the recent tea party victory is one of their many shows of power. It is difficult to fight one kind of religious fundamentalism when you are subject to another.