Victory in Afghanistan

Five U.S. troops were wounded recently while fighting Islamic State militants in Afghanistan, the latest sign of an expanding U.S. mission in a war that just a few years ago appeared to be winding down....
The operations in Nangarhar are an example of the expanding mission that President Barack Obama has approved this year for the roughly 10,000 U.S. troops who remain in Afghanistan.
In January, he gave American personnel there legal authority to strike the fledgling ISIS faction under any circumstances. Then in June, Obama approved U.S. air strikes and combat support for the Afghan army’s offensive operations against the Taliban.

More victory

The U.S. military is adding troops in eastern Afghanistan for an offensive against Islamic State, U.S. and Afghan officials said, a move intended to roll back the group’s gains in areas near the Pakistan border....
He also said he plans to slow the withdrawal of troops, leaving 8,400 in the country when his term ends next year, down from around 9,800 troops now.
The additional forces aren’t included in the total because they are members of the military’s global counterterrorism force and will leave Afghanistan after the operation is completed, a senior U.S. official said.

A really bad idea

The Iraqi government has officially incorporated the Iranian-supported Popular Mobilization Front (PMF) as an “independent military formation” in Iraqi’s security forces. The move, which was approved by Iraq’s prime minister in February, is disturbing as it establishes the PMF as a parallel security organization akin to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Influential PMF commanders have openly expressed their affinity for Iran’s supreme leader and the head of IRGC’s Qods Force...
Order 91 notes that the new official “military formation” will be manned by the PMF’s “staff, brigades, and members.” This means that individuals such as Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, who serves as the operations leader of the PMF, will retain a top leadership position with the approval of the government. Muhandis was listed by the US government as a specially designated global terrorist in July 2009 and was described as “an advisor to” Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani. He also leads the Hezbollah Brigades, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization that is one of several Iranian-backed militias that operates in Iraq....
The PMF claims that it is not a sectarian organization, but its brigades have been accused of razing Sunni towns and have even threatened Christians in Baghdad.
The Iraqi Prime Minister’s order will establish Iraq’s own IRGC, institutionalizing Tehran’s influence in the country. Although not all PMF forces answer to Tehran and there are units that follow Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the network backed by IRGC has the most sizable, experienced, strongest, organized, trained, and funded militias.

Why not do it again?

Contractors could play a major role in efforts to stabilize and rebuild cities in Iraq and Syria after they are recaptured from the Islamic State, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter told reporters July 27 during a visit to meet with troops set to deploy to the Middle East....
There will “absolutely” be a significant role for U.S. contractors once Islamic State strongholds like the Iraqi city of Mosul fall, he said in response to a question from a reporter.
“I do think that much of the reconstruction effort will be done by civil authorities, not the Department of Defense," he said. “That’s going to be a big job.”

And expensive.
When banks go broke...

The households that helped prop up the nation’s banks during the crisis are again on the front line of efforts to bolster Italy’s tottering financial system. The subordinated debt they hold may be first to take losses in a government-orchestrated recapitalization now being negotiated in Rome and Brussels. It’s a popularity-destroying outcome Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is trying to avoid before a referendum later this year to overhaul the political system -- a vote he needs to win to stay in power.

What about telecoms?

Move over Italian banks. The country's media and telecoms companies are staking their own claim to basket-case status....
So, Italy's biggest telcos are in a jam, and its biggest private broadcaster is back to square one with the Vivendi takeover of a money-losing business off the table. It's a shame interventions are only for the banks.