RIA Novosti quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Fellow Faysal Itani on US foreign policy toward the ongoing conflict in Iraq:
US airstrikes on militants from the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq are not part of a broader strategy to defeat the Sunni rebels and could backfire, counterterrorism expert Faysal Itani told RIA Novosti.
“Washington’s actions are not part of a broader strategy to defeat ISIS in either Iraq or Syria — US strategy remains vague and undefined,” Itani said.
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“These airstrikes were most likely precipitated by the Islamic States’ recent military gains in northern Iraq. There is now a threat to the critical Kurdish city of Irbil. Reports thatISIS now controls the Mosul dam — Iraq’s largest, and a critical strategic asset — have raised US concerns over the group’s gains and entrenchment,” stressed Itani, an analyst at the Atlantic Council.