Brent Scowcroft Center Senior Adviser Harlan Ullman writes for UPI on the ongoing crisis in Iraq:

The apparent suddenness of the capture of Mosul, Tikrit and other Iraqi cities by Sunni insurgents fighting under the banner of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria/the Levant (ISIS/ISIL) reverberated throughout many world capitals and especially Washington, D.C.

After expending 4500 American lives and a trillion dollars or so of national treasure in the ill-conceived invasion and incompetently executed occupation of Iraq, clearly the United States has more than a passing interest in these latest events as well as a huge responsibility for them. And the ruthlessness and heavy handedness of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s autocratic and sectarian rule likewise bears a heavy burden of responsibility and accountability.

Read the full article here.