aljazeera-ama

Great question - it does have resources and certainly momentum but I think the momentum is being stopped. I think people have to look at the root causes of why they are getting support in some regions. The fact remains that in areas they have taken over they are not proving able to run a state that many people would want to live in.

I think apart from Iraqi minorities under threat and perhaps the Kurds, very few Iraqis want a large US military presence here. They are though - particularly the Shiite - quite aware of how much of a threat IS fighters pose and when push comes to shove most people are quite happy with US air strikes if it helps restore some stability.

Thanks for writing - I don't think it was inevitable and I don't think it's about whether the US left too quickly. I do think its very clear though now that the US was unprepared for a war in Iraq - it didn't know the country and made very fundamental mistakes. When it realized its mistakes it was too late to fix in many cases.

Not without help no. I think their forced retreat has been a wake-up call. Some of the units that gave up cities in the Ninevah plains seem to have performed quite badly and there are indications that the lack of professionalism that has plagued Iraqi security forces, although to a lesser extent, was to blame. It's been a long time since the Kurdish region was really threatened and now they are returning to their warrior roots - but they need help.

Oh you know we head in when other people are heading out… Pretty much everyone is under severe threat. We thought al-Qaeda in Iraq was horrific but their successor is much much worse. They have executed journalists in Syria - including a wonderful Iraqi cameraman. If it were up to their people we actually wouldn't exist - women out there - working.