A fighter from the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) waves a flag in Raqqa, Syria on June 29, 2014. Reuters

How To Financially Starve ISIS -- Naina Bajekal, Time

Air strikes will help but to ruin the extremist organization the U.S.-led coalition will have to cut off ISIS's sources of funding.

The U.S.-led air assault in Iraq and Syria on the extremist group the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria(ISIS) is just one front in the battle being waged against ISIS. The U.S. Treasury recently confirmed plans to try to bankrupt the militant group by targeting its oil businesses and imposing sanctions on those financing them. But how easy will it be to financially ruin a group now considered by analysts to be the best-funded terrorist organization in recent history?

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- October 21, 2014

Why Iran views Islamic State fight through a conspiracy lens -- Scott Peterson, CSM

Doubling Down on Obama's Disaster in Syria - Michael Weiss & Faysal Itani, Politico

Islamic State’s rules of attraction, and why U.S. countermoves are doomed -- Peter Van Buren, Reuters

NATO Tries to Define Cyber War -- Robert Morgus, Real Clear World

How the U.S. Wasted $7.6 Billion to Stop Afghan Heroin Production -- Eric Pianin, The Fiscal Times

U.S. drug war in Afghanistan is failing, new report says -- Evan Perez, CNN

Unfinished war in Sri Lanka threatens paradise regained -- Nita Bhalla and Shihar Aneez, Reuters

No endgame in Hong Kong -- Minxin Pei, Indian Express

Gaddafi died 3 years ago. Would Libya be better off if he hadn’t? -- Adam Taylor, Washington Post

Pistorius sentencing: What it means -- Gerald Imray and Christopher Torchia, AP

Who are the contenders in the Ukraine elections? -- Andrew Wilson, Council on Foreign Relations

The Guardian view on Sweden’s defences: is Nato inevitable? -- Guardian editorial

Americans’ Gloom Marches Into Second Decade -- Elizabeth Williamson, WSJ

How Obama can tidy up a messy world: Column -- Richard Armitage and Kara Bue, USA Today

Oil prices drop -- who wins and who loses? -- Arthur Herman, Washington Examiner