Tough decisions in Iraq for Obama

The struggle for Iraq’s soul is getting more intense every passing day. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which spearheaded the latest uprising from predominantly Sunni areas, has continued to advance towards the south, capturing new towns along the way to Baghdad. Last week, it took control of strategically located Qaim, Rutba, Rawa and Anah in the Anbar Province. These towns control important crossings and would provide logistical advantages to ISIL in transporting weapons and equipment. The speed of the losses of the central government raised fears over the fate and the future of the country.

The growing menace of ISIL, together with the support of Sunni tribes and other groups, has reached to a proportion that it now clearly threatens the unity of Iraq, as well as the security of the neighboring countries, chief among them is Syria. Even though the Obama Administration announced the end of the “dumb war” in Iraq six years ago and withdrew the last of the U.S. troops at the end of 2011, Iraq is still a sore point for U.S. President Barack Obama. At the beginning of the latest crisis, he obviously tried to ignore it, wishing it to go away. Failing at that, he has been trying to find a stopgap solution to thwart the immediate threat posed by ISIL, hoping to placate wider sections of the Iraqi public to allow time to hatch up a new deal with a new government. Along the way, he is also trying not to send U.S. ground troops to Iraq again and thus not to attract the wrath of ISIL and other extremists groups against the U.S.

As a result, while Obama decided to send 300 U.S. military advisors to Iraq to assess the situation at first hand and guide the central government, as well as gather necessary intelligence to prepare...