Did The U.S. Help In Making The Islamic State A Threat?

Image Credit: REUTERS/Stringer

How The US Made ISIS A Threat -- Zachary Keck, The Diplomat

The U.S. not only helped create ISIS, but also turned it into a threat to the United States.

Over at The Debate, Ben Reynolds demolishes American pundits who, fearing the U.S. and Iran will cooperate on a shared interest, have tried to blame Iran and its allies for the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

I have no doubt that Bashar al-Assad welcomed ISIS's rise in the insurgency. An Alawite family does get to rule over Syria for decades by failing to recognize opportunities that land on its doorstep.


And while I disagree with aspects of Reynold's piece, his argument that the U.S. did far more to facilitate ISIS's rise than Iran is virtually undeniable. To briefly recap: In 2001 the U.S. was attacked by al-Qaeda, a Sunni Jihadist group, which claimed that America's support for corrupt and insufficiently Islamic governments in the Middle East was preventing it from recreating the Islamic Caliphate. The U.S. responded by launching a global war on terrorism. After forcing the Taliban and al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan, the U.S. turned its sights on Iraq, a country without a terrorist problem that was led by Saddam Hussein, a secular Sunni Baathist leader that al-Qaeda was bent on overthrowing.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ VERDANT STORIES SECTION
TITLE>>>>>>FORBIDDEN
 CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY

Chapter Four
Tanko did not share the milk in two halves, instead he ignored Bawa and made sure the four of them had a portion. This annoyed Bawa but pleased Garba who was grateful to have tasted the master's milk. It was sweet and very tasty. The following day, the boys learnt how to count. A black teacher who spoke English and called himself Mr. Felix taught. He explained it in Hausa as he taught in English. Garba liked it and he understood what Mr. Felix taught. He was very happy. "Tomorrow, you will learn how to write all what I've been teaching you. You will write one to ten," he said as he closed for the day. "I like Mr. Felix," Garba said later when he met Sule and Tanko. Bawa was avoiding them because of what happened the previous day. "Yes," said Sule. "He's a kind man. He's not like Mr. Jacobs or all these other teachers who speak through their nostrils." "Where is Bawa?" Garba asked Tanko. "The greedy boy says he's not interested in being friends with us again," Tanko said. "I guess it's because of what happened yesterday," Garba said. TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW....PLEASE VISIT OUR BLOG AGAIN TOMORROW FOR A CONTINUATION OF THIS AMAZING STORY!}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}