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A US flag flies off the stern of a tour boat at the Port of Los Angele in California on July 31, 2025. (Getty Images)
Current U.S. policy in Iraq fails to focus the political class in Baghdad on the need for Sunni enfranchisement. Without important political reforms, ISIS will continue to flourish in areas of disaffected Sunnis. And even if ISIS could be defeated in such an environment, neglecting the issues that led to its creation and growth will leave space for a new ISIS-like group to take root.
On June 10, Hudson Institute hosted a panel discussion to assess current U.S. policy toward ISIS in Iraq and examine solutions going forward. Ambassador Feisal al-Istrabadi, a former Iraqi diplomat; Ret. Col. Richard Welch, a former U.S. Special Forces officer; and Dr. Denise Natali, a distinguished research fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, joined Hudson Adjunct Fellow Michael Pregent to discuss how to shape future policy.
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