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The farming region of Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, is divided by one of Iraqs most turbulent fault lines of conflict, between the countrys Sunni and Shia tribes. A decade ago, this region of palm groves and irrigation canals was a violent al Qaeda stronghold known as the Triangle of Death. Yet for 2016, news reports and the United Nations accounting of nearly 7,000 or more civilian deaths across Iraq noted few attacks in this region, a reflection of its relative stability in recent years.

Ten years ago this month, the Armys 10th Mountain Division locked Mahmoudiya down with 3,500 troops running roadblocks and patrols. The divisions 2nd Brigade Combat Team had fought for months to loosen the grip of al-Qaeda and halt communal fighting. It lost 54 soldiers killed in 11 months of intensive operations.

Now, as Iraqi military forces fight in the city of Mosul to end the Islamic States last territorial hold in Iraq, the Mosul region and large swaths of Iraq face a similar threat of old communal conflicts flaring into another round of violence, intensified by the bloodshed during the extremist groups three years of brutal rule.

The United States urgently needs a strategy to secure the significant military gains against ISIS and prevent new cycles of violence that would further destabilize Iraq and potentially lead to the next generation of ISIS. No one wants to fight these battles a third time.

The good news is that a post-ISIS strategy need not be costly or led by U.S. forces. The relative stability of Mahmoudiya, and similar, recent successes by Iraqi peacemaking teams around the city of Tikrit and in other areas, shows that Iraqis, with time and some support, can solve their own conflicts at a local level. With this, they create greater resilience to conflicts fueled by national and regional divisions.

In Tikrit, mediators from an Iraqi non-governmental organization, Sanad for Peacebuilding, brokered a 2015 peace accord between Sunnis and Shia that averted revenge bloodshed following an Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) massacre. That accord paved the way for markets and businesses to restart, schools and hospitals to reopen and ultimately, the return of more than 380,000 displaced Iraqis thus far. Sanad last year facilitated similar accords to avert violence in the cities of Yathrib and Hawija.

These local agreements take months of arduous mediation by civil society groups and Iraqs reconciliation authorities, and require continued dialogue and vigilance to maintain. They are by no means a panacea. One ISIS suicide attack last year struck a soccer game in the Mahmoudiya region, killing at least 26 people.

But Iraqi peacemakers have built a track record in helping Iraqis resolve their local conflicts and build a sustainable peace. They have capabilities that will be essential in the aftermath of ISIS, especially in the complex stew of Mosuls overlapping ethnic and religious communities Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, Sunnis, Shias, Christians and Yezidis. Without reconciliation among Iraqis, all other investments in the countrys progress remain vulnerable to future conflict.

For the United States, promoting such an outcome requires no expensive surge of its resources, but rather a consistent policy of leading cost-effective, international investment in helping Iraqis build peace.

Amid war-torn Iraq, the continued, relative stability at Mahmoudiya underscores the cost-effectiveness of helping local people negotiate their own peace. After 31 tribal sheikhs signed their peace accord 10 years ago, 3,500 troops of the 10th Mountain Division were able to leave, replaced by a follow-on force of just 650 soldiers a reduction of 80 percent in the number of U.S. troops required. That represented a U.S. cost savings of $150 million per month, achieved by a peace accord that cost about $1.5 million to achieve.

The 10th Mountain Division faced the challenges of Mahmoudiya with courage and grit. They learned quickly how to fight with different approaches in a tough environment. More importantly, they understood the urgency of securing their gains. We owe it to our national security and to the brave members of our military to heed the lessons afforded by the Triangle of Death and invest in a partnership with Iraqi civil society and local leaders to sustain the peace from the ground up as an essential part of the way forward.

Nancy Lindborg is the president of the U.S. Institute of Peace.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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To stabilize Iraq after ISIS, try a method that worked - The Hill (blog)

In the violent Middle East, Lebanon looks like a miracle. A mix of Christians and Sunni and Shiite Muslims who have fought a brutal civil war, and have weathered aggressive outside interference, Lebanon is still puttering along as a semifunctioning democracy. To encourage and strengthen the Lebanese Armed Forces, the U.S. has given more than $1 billion over the last decade.

But looks are deceiving. In Lebanon, despite Americas help, Iran has won.

People watch Lebanons Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as he appears on a screen during a live broadcast to speak to his supporters at an event marking Resistance and Liberation Day in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Hassan Abdallah

Step back a few decades and remember the pitched battles of the Lebanese civil warSunni vs. Shiite vs. Christian. The kidnapping and killing of countless innocents; the murder of the CIA station chief in Beirut; and finally, the end of the civil war with the 1989 Taif Accords, a rare Arab-led initiative, which dictated terms that enabled weary Lebanese fighters to lay down their arms.

The full piece will be posted on Monday, July 3. To read the complete piece at WSJ.com, click here.If you are not a Wall Street Journal subscriber, you may access the full piece via WSJs Twitter profile here.

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Iran Won in Lebanon. What About Iraq? - American Enterprise Institute

TUNIS Hundreds of fighters from Chad and Sudan's Darfur region are feeding off instability in Libya, battling for rival factions, seeking to build rebel movements and engaging in banditry and arms trafficking, Geneva-based researchers said on Tuesday.

Failure to secure peace deals and reintegrate rebels in Chad and Sudan has led to a "market for cross-border combatants" linking those two countries and Libya, said a report by the Small Arms Survey group.

With desert regions already crisscrossed by Islamist militants, people smugglers and arms traffickers, there is a growing risk of destabilization unless long marginalized communities can be integrated, it says.

The 179-page report largely focuses on the Teda, or Tebu, people inhabiting the Tibesti mountains in northern Chad that fringe the borders of Libya and Niger. They have played a central role in rebellions in all three countries.

Their most recent insurrection in Chad ended in 2011, but the NATO-backed uprising that toppled Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi the same year drew them in, providing easy access to weapons.

"This chaos attracts fighters - including armed opposition forces - from northern Chad and Darfur, and is already having repercussions in Chad and Sudan," the report said.

"The ChadSudanLibya triangle has once again become the center of a regional system of conflicts. A notable consequence of these conflicts has been the re-emergence since 2011 of a regional market for cross-border combatants."

Since 2012, a series of gold rushes from Darfur in the east to Algeria in the west had further destabilized the region.

FLUID MILITARY ALLIANCES

Chad and Sudan support opposing armed factions in Libya, where loose and shifting rival alliances have been battling for power since 2014, creating rival governments in Tripoli and the east of sprawling Libya. Rebels from both countries have mostly aligned with their respective government's enemies.

Competing Libyan armed factions frequently accuse each other of deploying mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa.

A U.N.-backed government that arrived in the Libyan capital last year was meant to unify warring factions, but has largely failed to exert its authority.

Some 1,500 Sudanese fighters may currently be in Libya, mostly deployed with forces loyal to eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar, said Jerome Tubiana, a co-author of the report.

About 1,000 Chadians are based with anti-Haftar forces, and several hundred more are either trying to stay neutral or are willing to work for either said, he said.

The report cited several examples of Chadian and Sudanese groups being stationed in the central desert region of Jufra, a recent flashpoint for fighting between pro-Haftar forces and their foes, and in Benghazi, where Haftar's forces have been waging a long campaign against Islamists and other opponents.

The report argued that military-focused efforts to stabilize the region are unlikely to work, calling for socio-economic policies to integrate the Teda.

"The Libyan crisis and the issue of a jihadist presence in the Sahara will not be resolved by a military intervention in southern Libya or by placing Western soldiers along porous and virtually non-existent borders," it said.

"The importance of the presence of the three states (Libya, Chad and Niger), not only militarily, but also in terms of providing services and development, cannot be underestimated."

(Editing by Mark Heinrich)

MOSCOW/KIEV/WASHINGTON A major global cyber attack disrupted computers at Russia's biggest oil company, Ukrainian banks and multinational firms with a virus similar to the ransomware that infected more than 300,000 computers last month .

JAKARTA Indonesian authorities have imposed a travel ban on tycoon and politician Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who is building resorts to be managed by Trump hotels, over an investigation into allegations he threatened a prosecutor via a text message.

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Hundreds of fighters from Chad, Darfur feeding off Libya's turmoil: report - Reuters

Inspired by Black Lives Matter Toronto's demonstration at the Toronto Pride Parade last year, members of the activist group in New York City are now calling forthe removal of uniformed police officers from their city's parade.

"Let us start off by saying that we stand in full solidarity with our siblings of the Toronto Chapter of #BlackLivesMatter," read a statement byBlack Lives Matter New York City on Sunday afternoon.

In addition to the removal of uniformed officers, the group alsocalled for Pride organizers in New York to do more to emphasize queer and transgenderblack communities.

The statement comes the same day that a group ofsome 100 Toronto police officers banned from marching in uniform at the Toronto paradetravelled with a group of union representatives to New York City to participate in that city's paradeat the invitation of the Gay Officers Action League (GOAL).

Speaking to CBC Toronto ahead of the march, the force's ownLGBTliaison officer,Const. Danielle Bottineau, acknowledged many in the community saw that move asa "slap in the face."

The president of the union representing Toronto police officers said they shouldn't need to make the trip.

"It's pretty pathetic," said Mike McCormack. "We should not be down here. We should be in our own city, marching with our own community that we police each and every day."

During a30-minute sit-in at last year's parade, Black Lives Matter Toronto members demanded that Toronto police floats and boothsbe barred from future Pride parades and community events.Their demands also included a commitment to increase representation among Pride Toronto staff and to better support black events during Pride.

On Sunday, the group made an appearance at Toronto's Pride parade despite not being registered to march this year.

The group took to the parade route just before the end of the day's festivitieswith raised fists and posters bearing the words, "May we never again have to shut it down."

Speaking to reporters after the demonstration, co-founder Rodney Diverluswouldn't say how long the group had been planning to show up.

"I don't think that's relevant," he said.

"Pride is actually ours. Queer and trans people of colour actually started this. We don't need to register for a deadline, we don't need to tell you we're coming, we don't need to pay money for afloat. We're just going to take up space," said Diverlus.

Pride Toronto did not return a request for comment by CBC Toronto Sunday night.

"Our police can't just escape us and [hope] that they're not going to be held accountable," Rodney Diverlus said. (CBC)

On Sunday, also Diverlus responded to the move by those members of the Toronto police who decided to march in New York City.

"Our police can't just escape us and [hope] that they're not going to be held accountable. Folks in Black Lives Matter New York reminded Toronto police that no matter where they go black people will resistthem. We know where you are.We know what you've done."

"We are here at Pride 2017 to remind the community,that we are still standing up for them," the organization tweeted Sunday afternoon.

Diverlus said part of the reason for appearing at this year's march unannounced was to draw attention to the list of nine demands that the group presented at last year's Pride Paradeissues he says have been overlooked with all the focus on "where police are at" this year.

As part of their message, the group also drew attention to what it called "the violence of police anti-Blackness" in the recent inquest into the death of 45-year-old Andrew Loku, the father of five who came to Canada as a refugee from South Sudan and was shot by police in an apartment corridor while holding a hammer in July 2015.

The group hasbeen highly critical of the Special Investigations Unit assessment of the case and what they perceiveas a lack of transparency from the police watchdog.

Is Pride a party or protest?2:18

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Black Lives Matter NYC 'inspired' by Toronto chapter's call ...

Earlier this week a controversial Buzzfeed article titled What Happened To Black Lives Matter? circulated around the web; questioning the visibility, leadership, and impact that the organization has made following the 2016 presidential election.

Black Lives Matter is still here. Its groups are still organizing, wrote Buzzfeed reporter Darren Sands. But Black Lives Matter is on the verge of losing the traction and momentum that sparked a national shift on criminal justice policy.

After catching wind of the article, the collectivethat has taken a stand for numerous Black and Brown lives since its inceptionreleased a statement standing up for themselves. In a piece featured on Mic, the organization claims that there were several inaccuracies in the article and is demanding that it be retracted.

These are dangerous times for our people, read the piece. History tells us that we need responsible, thoughtful and brave journalism. But movements can be stopped in their tracks by uninformed and inaccurate hit pieces that trade in gossip. We must consider what we believe in, who we stand with, and what we are fighting for.

Black Lives Matter also claims that it isnt opposed to critique or focused on ego or celebrity but is centered on their mission to combat systematic racism and evoke real change.

In the Mic statement, the collective highlighted the work that theyve done thus far including efforts to help those who have been wrongly incarcerated, their #ReclaimMLK campaign, and the several protests that they have organized to inspire individuals to take action.

What are your thoughts about the controversy? Sound off in the comments.

SOURCE: Mic, Buzzfeed

SEE ALSO:

Black Lives Matter V. Trump: Whats Next?

Journal Apologizes For Excluding African Americans From Black Lives Matter Analysis

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Black Lives Matter Responds To Claims Of A Dying Movement