Libyan Peace Talks Falter as Islamic State Advances

The elected Libyan parliament, operating out of Tobruk, has rejected the U.N. proposal for a reconciliation government despite being the only recognized official legislative body under the agreement. The parliament has also suspended its participation in further talks. A spokesperson for the Tobruk government’s negotiating team accused U.N. envoy Bernardino Leon of doing too much to appease the Tripoli faction. “Leon brought us to square one … to appease an ideological group in a horrible way,” he said. “He succumbed to extortion.” Talks are continuing in Germany without the parliament’s participation. Leon has said he hopes to have an accord by the start of Ramadan on June 17.

The faltering talks coincide with new advances by militants affiliated with the Islamic State in Libya. Yesterday, militants seized a critical power plant near the city of Sirte.

U.S. Considers Sending More Troops to Iraq

The United States is considering sending an additional 400 to 1,000 (figures cited in reports vary) troops to Iraq to assist with training Iraqi forces, according to an administration official. The discussion comes despite reports this week that the Iraqi government has not sent troops for U.S. training at al-Asad air base, one of five locations where U.S. forces are prepared to assist Iraqi forces. The United States is working with 2,601 Iraqi troops at other bases, according to the Department of Defense, and is working on operating from a sixth facility at Habbaniya to focus on training Sunni tribal fighters.

Headlines

• Multiple suicide bombers were stopped as they attacked the Karnak temple complex in Luxor, Egypt, this morning in the most brazen assault on Egypt’s tourism industry since the 1990s; the Egyptian government said two terrorists were shot and a third wounded.

• The Islamic State attacked Hezbollah positions along the Lebanon-Syria border near Ras Baalbek and Arsal leaving at least 22 dead.

• The International Monetary Fund’s former chief of mission for Algeria warned that drops in oil prices threaten the Algerian economy and that the country must enact “structural reforms” to diversify its exports.

• An Egyptian court retrying individuals who took part in the deadly Port Said soccer riot in February 2012 sentenced 11 people to death and another 40 people to 15 years in prison.

• The United States and Israel signed a new strategic agreement on cooperation between their air forces.

Arguments and Analysis

“This is not the Middle Eastern order you are looking for” (Benjamin Denison and Andrew Lebovich, The Monkey Cage)

“Kaplan’s arguments substitute vague, inaccurate recollections of the past with outdated and essentialist ideas about geographical determinism and intra-Muslim conflict. He posits, for instance, that a history of ancient civilization and statehood has given countries like Morocco ‘sturdy forms of secular identity,’ a claim that stands somewhat at odds with the Moroccan king’s title as Amir al-Mu’mineen, or Commander of the Faithful. He also argues that a lack of major Roman settlements in Libya and Algeria (which is just false: there were major settlements in today’s Constantine, Tipasa and elsewhere, and Roman provinces in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica) somehow calls into question whether a “state or central government is even possible” in these places. And yet Algeria’s northern borders have largely been defined for hundreds of years, while Libya’s current dysfunction stems primarily from decades of Mu’ammar Qaddafi’s family and tribal rule, which hollowed out or destroyed state institutions.”

“No, Iran Isn’t Destabilizing the Middle East” (Paul Pillar, The National Interest)

“The ritualistically repeated notion that Iran is wreaking instability all over the region is a badly mistaken myth. There are important respects in which Iranian policies and actions do offend U.S. interests, but protection of those interests is not helped by perpetuating myths. Perpetuation of this particular myth has several deleterious effects. The most immediate and obvious one is to corrupt debate over the nuclear deal. Another is to foster broader misunderstanding about Iranian behavior and intentions that threatens to corrupt debate over other issues as well. Yet another consequence involves a failure to understand fully that every state competes for influence. Such efforts to compete are called foreign policy.”

-J. Dana Stuster

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