Blood Year: Terror and the Islamic State

In June 2014, ISIS seized Mosul, the anchor of northern Iraq and home to more than two million. Twelve days before the city fell, President Obama speaking at West Point failed to mention ISIS at all, having earlier dismissed them as a “jayvee team.” What happened? How could the President so misjudge things? Can we recover from this? What does a coherent strategy look like after this disastrous year? In his essay "Blood Year: Terror and the Islamic State," published in Quarterly Essay (Australia), Dr. David Kilcullen draws upon interviews with communities and combatants, work by his field research teams in Iraq and Syria, and analysis by other observers to point the way towards answers.