Rudaw quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on US airstrikes in northern Iraq:
Faysal Itani, an analyst at the Atlantic Council, a think tank, said US raids were prompted by the Islamic State’s rapid advance northwards into Kurdish areas and will not defeat the Sunni Muslim jihadis, who are also known as ISIS and ISIL.
“Washington’s strategy remains vague and undefined,” Itani said. “ISIS will not make a costly, futile stand to resist US air superiority, and their substantial territorial gains in recent months offer plenty of room to retreat. Unless the group is targeted in northern and eastern Syria it will adapt and continue to threaten Iraq’s central government, Kurdish forces and rival Syrian rebels.”