Islamic State Would Not Exist without the Invasion of Iraq

The self-proclaimed Islamic State has only managed to come as far as it has thanks to the invasion of Iraq and the civil war in Syria. Governments of the U.S. and some in Europe have been involved in both. The invasion of Iraq toppled Saddam Hussein, a Shiite* leader who kept the Sunni jihadi terrorists who now make up Islamic State group under control. In Syria, the Shiite** government of Bashar al-Assad cannot defeat these jihadis because the U.S. and its allies supplied arms to the opposition without pausing to reflect that they were arming Islamic State and al-Qaida. Today the Syrian government controls the south and east of this country but in the rest of the country the jihadis, radicals who believe in a “holy war” to impose Islam, have control.

No non-Muslim Western intervention could strike a significant blow against the Islamic State group. Only a powerful Muslim army, such as that of Iran, allied with Iraq and Syria, would have the power and the necessary popular support. It is paradoxical that Iran should be the country able to oppose the greatest threat to the U.S. and Europe. Iran has a Shiite government, opposed to the Sunnis and an enemy of the Islamic State and al-Qaida. After 9/11, al-Qaida became somewhat inactive and hidden, mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was killed, but later became stronger in Libya when the governments and politicians of the U.S. and Europe did it the favor of eliminating its enemy Muammar Gaddafi. Another mistake? Yes. But not so odd; even al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden were created and armed by the U.S. in Afghanistan to fight against the former USSR.

The Islamic State group emerged strategically as part of al-Qaida, among Sunni radicals who called for a return to supposed “Islamic roots.” Its aim is to form a caliphate occupying Iraq and Syria, and subsequently to launch a war to gain more territory. Today the Islamic State group has immense power, facilitated by the armies of the U.S. and Europe. It is separated from al-Qaida since it no longer needs it. Without the mistakes committed by the U.S. and some European governments, the Islamic State group would not have been able to exist as such a powerful and well organized phenomenon. Its members are professional fighters. Al-Baghdadi, its leader, has a lot of support among the jihadis. This individual, the self-proclaimed “caliph of all Muslims,” is the most dangerous and bloodthirsty terrorist in the world.

Although the main goal of the Islamic State group is to develop, above all else, its caliphate in the Middle East, it does not renounce the idea of conquering other regions in the future. The terrorist attacks in the West are carried out by jihadi fanatics who want to do something for the caliphate but who cannot get to Iraq or Syria. The message they are getting is, “Do what you can where you can.” It is a serious problem that, although they are a small minority among Muslims, they are fanatical extremists and can easily carry out terrorist attacks anywhere.

The Islamic State group is a product of mistakes committed, essentially, due to Republican policies, due to the Bush administrations and the pressures on Clinton and Obama from Republican members of Congress who, from Capitol Hill, push for an aggressive and interventionist foreign policy. The Republican “hawks” have never been able to work out the Middle East as they don’t understand that this region of the world has a different culture, history, customs, traditions, values, different forms of government, very localized and complex problems, and that it is better not “to stir up a wasp’s nest” trying to be the “policeman of the world.” The Islamic State group is the fruit of arrogance, ambition and ignorance.

*Editor’s note: Saddam Hussein was Sunni not Shiite.

**Editor’s note: Al-Assad’s government is Alawite, a Shiite division of Islam.