Iraq War: Surge II decision looms after U.S. election

Marines maneuver in Umm Qasr during a hot phase of the Iraq War for U.S. forces. /U.S. Department of Defense photo

The Iraq War is far from over.

In yet another journalism tour de force, Frontline has laid bare the folly of two American presidents in Iraq. From George W. Bush's bumbling occupation of the country to Barack Obama's ill-fated rush to find an exit, successive U.S. administrations have been poking a hornet nest in the heart of the Middle East.

The Iraq War smeared Bush's legacy. As Iraq's bubbling cauldron of sectarian animosity between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds threatens to explode, Obama's standing in the eyes of history now weighs in the balance.

If Obama is not pondering renewed intervention in Iraq, he should be.

With the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) threatening to overrun the central government in Baghdad, al-Qaeda and other groups openly hostile to the United States and its allies in the region are flourishing in the Fertile Crescent country.

The current occupant of the White House faces a challenge dripping with irony: Obama inherited the Iraq War from his predecessor, and he has wanted to disengage from Day 1 of his administration. Now, he faces the prospect of launching his own war in Iraq.

The clock is ticking.

If Obama intervenes to rescue Iraq from chaos, he would likely doom many Democrats running for Congress in November. The Iraqi state could meet its doom any day.