War Lite -- Obama's Limited Iraq Goals

Plan A is to encourage Iraq's political factions to form a government more inclusive than the current one of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who has alienated Sunnis by barring them from government positions and persecuting their leaders. A broader government could become the "partner" that Obama's counter-terrorism strategy envisions, with an Iraqi army capable of shouldering the fight on the ground. On Friday, Obama mentioned Yemen as a potential model for Iraq: a country where the United States has no combat troops but has launched an estimated 108 airstrikes since 2009 in support of a friendly government. But if Plan A fails, there's still Plan B: a continuing, mostly diplomatic effort to stave off all-out civil war in Iraq, combined with selective airstrikes against ISIS.