This blog has long lamented the inability of world coalitions to restore some kind of political consensus to underpin the fight against IS. Now that militarily IS is but a shadow of its former power and beaten back on every front, the worst possible thing would be for the victors to fight among themselves. Yet with the Iraqi army attacking the Kurds in and around Kirkuk, that is exactly what is happening.
The situation is not helped by the Trump administration’s visceral hostility to Iran, whilst fighting beside and depending upon, Iranian backed militias to achieve victory over IS. There are constant reports of chaotic processes in the White House, which may be true or fake. But the conflicting loyalties of America’s allies in the Mid East, whether those alliances are formally acknowledged or simply accepted as of necessity, have the potential to create a whole new chaos for the future, with no end in sight. This threat is very real. Everybody with a stake in these entangled Middle East conflicts needs to focus. Winning wars and losing the peace is a fool’s game and very costly in human misery. All of it the opposite of what Western civilisation stands for.