The Risky Jihadist Moves Against Southern Iraq

As U.S. and Iraqi troops wrap up an offensive in the northern Iraqi town of Tall Afar near the Syrian border, troops began Operation Zobaa (Cyclone) in Rutbah, 300 miles west of Baghdad on the Jordanian border. With military pressure bearing down on them in northern and western Iraq, the jihadists appear to be moving some of their operations into the Shiite-dominated south — a move that could very well elicit a Shiite response.