We Never Should Have Left Iraq  —  A U.S. military presence could have mollified Sunnis and prevented the new civil war.  —  The United States made a grave mistake by invading Iraq in 2003.  Yet it also made a grave mistake by withdrawing its military forces in 2011.

Prime Minister Maliki Panics as Insurgents Gain  —  What's happening in Iraq is a disaster and it is astonishing that the Iraqis and the Americans, who have been sharing intelligence, seem to have been caught flat-footed by the speed of the insurgent victories and the army defections.

ABU DUA: IMPRISONED BY THE US, THE MAN WHO HATES THE WEST MORE THAN OSAMA BIN LADEN AND IS THE DRIVING FORCE BY ISIS … Marauding ISIS militia beheading their way to Baghdad: How jihadist group so extreme even al-Qaeda has distanced itself threatens to take Iraq three years after America left

Jihadist Gains in Iraq Blindside American Spies  —  First Crimea, now Iraq.  Why does America's $50 billion intelligence community keep getting taken by surprise?  —  GOOGLE +

Iraqi Shiite Cleric Issues Call to Arms Against Sunni Militants  —  BAGHDAD — Iraq's top Shiite cleric exhorted all able-bodied Iraqis to take up arms Friday to combat the marauding Sunni extremist militants who have seized broad stretches of the country this week and are threatening the wobbly Shiite-led central government in Baghdad.

David Brat and Jack Trammell show unease in the spotlight  —  ASHLAND, Va. — Before the two professors became overnight political rivals in one of the most improbable, high-profile races in memory, they knew each other best as basketball teammates.  —  David Brat, the economics professor …