U.S. Needs Iran to Beat Islamic State
May 20, 2015 9:10 AM EDT
By Noah Feldman
The fall of the Iraq city of Ramadi to Islamic State is significant -- but not because of the strategic importance of the capital of the Anbar province. Rather, the failure of Iraq's official security forces emphasizes a fundamental quandary facing the anti-Islamic State coalition.
If Islamic State is to be defeated, there must be effective ground troops. Right now, the only effective ground troops outside of Iraqi Kurdistan seem to be Shiite militias with close ties to Iran.
So the coalition has to choose between two evils. Is it better to fight Islamic State effectively while facilitating Iranian domination of Iraq? Or to let the insurgent group take and hold territory while hoping for improved performance from the Iraqi security forces?
One appealing solution would be for the U.S. to leave the question to Iraqis, and provide air support to whichever force the Iraqis choose to fight Islamic State.
But which Iraqis? The Baghdad government of Haidar al-Abadi was picked as an alternative to its predecessor’s overreliance on the Shiite militias. But now Abadi apparently thinks he, too, has little choice but to rely on the militias. Abadi’s government is dominated by Shiites -- and it’s also close to Iran, if not as close as the government of Nouri al-Maliki.
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http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-05-20/u-s-needs-iran-to-beat-islamic-state
