- Social:
Iraqi scholar and professor
Iraqi scholar and professor; former reconstruction advisor to the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority
PROFILE
Isam Al Khafaji
Guest
FROM Isam Al Khafaji
To the Point
Kerry, Military Advisors and the US's Role in Stopping ISIS in Iraq This weekend the militant Islamic group ISIS captured two major border crossings and 4 cities in the north and west of Iraq. Last week as the insurgency intensified, President Obama offered military advisors to help the struggling Iraqi military, but no boots on the ground. Today Secretary of State John Kerry assured Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the US support in Iraq will be “intense and sustained.” After a two-hour meeting with the Prime Minister, Secretary Kerry spoke to the press in Baghdad, repeating calls for the Iraqi leadership to immediately form a more inclusive government. The President may yet order air strikes to help beat back ISIS, which has taken over a large amount of Iraqi territory in a very short time.
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To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
Left, Right & Center
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
To the Point
Trump's 'America First' goes missing abroad In the Middle East, President Trump is changing some policies of the Obama Administration—and reversing his own campaign attacks on Islam as a religion that "hates us." We hear about his visit to Saudi Arabia and what's at stake for the rest of his foreign excursion.