The vast majority of Mosul's population wanted a fair settlement in an Iraqi context - something that both ISIL and the government were incapable of delivering [Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters]
Zaid al-Ali, Al Jazeera: Battle for Mosul upends false Iraq narrative
Analysis: The success of Iraq's counterterrorism forces highlights deep public misconceptions about the war on ISIL.
The Iraqi army's progress in Mosul over the past few months flies in the face of the narrative that has been created about Iraq since 2003. Narratives are often constructed, but rarely as aggressively as the story according to which Iraq is an artificial country comprising people who deeply mistrust each other.
The invasion of Mosul and Tikrit by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in 2014 was supposed to be the narrative's final chapter: The people of both cities had allegedly welcomed their invaders and cursed the Iraqi army as it withdrew from their streets, further proving that Iraq would be better served if it were split apart.
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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- February 17, 2017
Syria is a world war without a solution -- Seth J Frantzman, Spectator
North Korea gives Donald Trump a nuclear crisis from hell -- Peter Apps,
Reuters
North Koreans 'believe they are at war on a daily basis', Russian academic warns -- Stan Grant, ABC News Online
China-Pakistan Corridor and the Baloch Insurgency -- Shazar Shafqat, The Diplomat
A Common Threat Assessment for NATO? -- Andrew A. Michta, Carnegie Now
Everyone's coming round to Brexit -- Joseph Hackett, The Commentator
The Baltic states: No easy target -- Agnia Grigas, Al Jazeera
Greece is as sick as ever and its agony goes on and on -- Tony Barber, Financial Times
In U.S. and European politics, struggle behind closed doors -- John Lloyd, Reuters
Civilians and the Military Under Trump -- Fritz Lodge, Cipher Brief
Separating Fact From Innuendo in the Flynn Fiasco -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg
Greenwald: Empowering the "Deep State" to Undermine Trump is Prescription for Destroying Democracy (Video) -- Democracy Now!
Trump's Border Plan for Canada? So Far, Not a Wall -- Jessica Trisko Darden, RCW
How a Politician Accused of Drug Trafficking Became Venezuela’s Vice President -- Nicholas Casey and Ana Vanessa Herrero, New York Times
Facebook Plans to Rewire Your Life. Be Afraid. -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg
The Mark Zuckerberg Manifesto Is a Blueprint for Destroying Journalism -- Adrienne LaFrance, The Atlantic
North Koreans 'believe they are at war on a daily basis', Russian academic warns -- Stan Grant, ABC News Online
China-Pakistan Corridor and the Baloch Insurgency -- Shazar Shafqat, The Diplomat
A Common Threat Assessment for NATO? -- Andrew A. Michta, Carnegie Now
Everyone's coming round to Brexit -- Joseph Hackett, The Commentator
The Baltic states: No easy target -- Agnia Grigas, Al Jazeera
Greece is as sick as ever and its agony goes on and on -- Tony Barber, Financial Times
In U.S. and European politics, struggle behind closed doors -- John Lloyd, Reuters
Civilians and the Military Under Trump -- Fritz Lodge, Cipher Brief
Separating Fact From Innuendo in the Flynn Fiasco -- Eli Lake, Bloomberg
Greenwald: Empowering the "Deep State" to Undermine Trump is Prescription for Destroying Democracy (Video) -- Democracy Now!
Trump's Border Plan for Canada? So Far, Not a Wall -- Jessica Trisko Darden, RCW
How a Politician Accused of Drug Trafficking Became Venezuela’s Vice President -- Nicholas Casey and Ana Vanessa Herrero, New York Times
Facebook Plans to Rewire Your Life. Be Afraid. -- Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg
The Mark Zuckerberg Manifesto Is a Blueprint for Destroying Journalism -- Adrienne LaFrance, The Atlantic
