The situation in the Middle East and the Mediterranean is getting out of hand, steadily but surely. The first issue is Iraq, where a very wrong policy was established under former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki continues, depending solely on the support of the Shiite community of the country. Not only did it alienate Sunni Iraqis, but the relations of the central Iraqi government with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq have also been dreadfully tense. With the replacement of Maliki by current Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a more open and moderate figure, Iraqi politics have shifted from a confrontational stance toward support and cooperation with neighboring countries, especially Turkey. But the influence of Iran is still very visible and the Iraqi armed forces, under reorganization for the last 10 years, are a total disaster.

Syria is not a country, but an open battle field. The "living dead," the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is confined to a limited number of urban centers and coastal areas. The remains of the Syrian army have become undisciplined killing brigades and without the support of both Russia, which is fading, and Iran, which is increasing, the regime would have gone long ago. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been arming and more efficiently supporting anti-Assad forces, but still both in Iraq and Syria, especially in rural areas, there is overwhelming domination by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), which is made up of the remains of Saddam Hussein's army and other combating factions.

To the difference of all other local armed forces, ISIS possesses the ability to establish long-term tactics and wide combat strategies. It is also able to use sophisticated heavy armaments. ISIS does completely lack air capabilities, but it is very difficult to destroy their forces with airstrikes alone so far as they take shelter behind civilian populations. In Iraq, U.S. military advisors have succeeded in uniting all forces fighting against ISIS under a single high command. Will this give better results? It remains to be seen.

A similar step is perhaps envisaged for Syria. The trouble is there should be a salient political force, being against Assad and ISIS, to be trained and armed in order to create a viable alternative for a solution in this sorry country. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been insisting on the need to establish safe zones and no-fly zones inside Syria, where a semblance of an army and administration can be formed. For the time being there is no real interest on the part of the U.S. and other allies to support such a measure.

There has been another important approach with NATO countries deciding to establish a spearhead force known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF). The force will assemble extremely operational military forces from France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the U.K. Turkey has been tipped to become a leading partner together with the U.S. for this new taskforce.

Such a military tool can become very useful in the war-torn Middle East, where the elemental issue is to stop the bloodbath both in Syria and Iraq. Without really challenging the issue of getting rid of Assad and ISIS together, there will be no tangible advance toward a lasting peace and "modus vivendi."