Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Do Iraq and Syria no longer exist, and if so? (8): Syria’s gone, and Iraq may be too

Judith Yaphe, retired CIA analyst of Iraq: "Syria, yes; Iraq,  I don’t know. "I do not know how Syria can be put together as we knew it before 2011. Too much killing, too much hatred unleashed, though it is hard to ascribe it all to sectarian roots. Iraqis have been living with power struggles masked ...

via Wikimedia
via Wikimedia
via Wikimedia

Judith Yaphe, retired CIA analyst of Iraq:

Judith Yaphe, retired CIA analyst of Iraq:

"Syria, yes; Iraq,  I don’t know.

"I do not know how Syria can be put together as we knew it before 2011. Too much killing, too much hatred unleashed, though it is hard to ascribe it all to sectarian roots. Iraqis have been living with power struggles masked as sectarian since the 1990s mostly because of Saddam’s revenge for the uprisings, our ignorance of Iraq, ISIS fueling the Sunni Arabs’ anger and frustration with American neglect, Maliki’s betrayals, and militant Shiites and Kurds focused only on their gains. National reconciliation has never been an option."

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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