Iraq’s prime minister says his country’s battle against ISIS is over.
Which is really too bad.
Not just because it's not accurate.
(ISIS remains in Iraq.)
But also because Hayder al-Abadi no longer has the common enemy.
It was the common enemy of ISIS, for example, that led to Shi'ite cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr calling off (temporarily) the weekly protests by his followers.
It was the common enemy of ISIS, also true, that, for a time, allowed the governments in Baghdad and Erbil to work together.
The common enemy is gone.
Now what?
Too bad the US didn't think to work on diplomacy for the last three years. Too bad they didn't work towards healing differences between -- among others -- Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds.
The temporary bond is gone.
