Mosul Lays Bare the Challenge of Asymmetric Warfare 
From Merve Tahiroglu & Jonathan Schanzer, Foundation for Defense of Democracies: “As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson prepares to travel to Ankara on Thursday, a new report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) finds that the Islamic State (IS) has become a significant domestic threat to Turkey, with IS footholds in as many as 70 of Turkey’s 81 provinces. ” ​

The killing of Farkhunda Malikzada, 27, captured on cellphones and shown repeatedly on TV, horrified the nation and the world. It also embarrassed officials of the Western-backed government, which has attempted to promote women's rights in the conservative, tribal Muslim society, where women and girls are often killed with impunity in the name of protecting family honor…The incident also energized the struggling Afghan women's movement, which staged protests outside the shrine. But over time, the momentum dissipated. – Washington Post
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Knesset members to resume Temple Mount visits
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided Monday that Knesset members could resume visits to the Temple Mount after Ramadan if the security situation remains calm, and the police and security services give them a green light. The number of visits permitted could gradually be increased, subject to conditions on the ground.

​To avoid provoking the Palestinians, Israeli elected officials have not been allowed for the past 18 months to visit the sacred site, which Muslims revere as the Haram al-Sharif. Likud Knesset member Yehuda Glick, who heads the lobby for Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, threatened last week to petition Israel’s High Court if Netanyahu did not rescind the ban.

The Drive:  Syria Threatens Israel

Michael O’Hanlon writes: [L]eave aside Assad and longer-term issues, including the al-Qaida presence in Syria, for the moment. With this kind of approach towards working with the Syrian Kurds, we will have a much more credible concept, and perhaps a more united coalition, for seeking the defeat of ISIS in the first place. – Brookings Institution

Afghanistan War Is Unwinnable
From Douglas A. Wissing, The Hill: “The Afghanistan War is unwinnable. Partnered with a corrupt and ineffective Afghan government, U.S. forces confront a robust and growing insurgency, substantively funded by skimmed American contracts. After 15 years of dysfunctional U.S. development schemes costing over $100 billion, Afghans remain near the bottom of most human development indices.” ​