Rowan Scarborough wrote an article on the danger to our national security of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which was published on The Washington Times on June 24, 2014.
The reporter wrote the following: “The al Qaida-linked army now conquering territory in Syria and Iraq ultimately wants its emerging Islamic state to be a launching pad for attacking the U.S. homeland, says a new congressional report. Four analysts at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) made that assessment, citing intelligence reports and the words of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).”
The CRS report, shared with members of Congress, points out that ISIL is a well-organized and well-funded terrorist group which has the goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate by expanding territory in Iraq and Syria. ISIL kills all individuals that it considers nonbelievers and Shiites by following the strictest interpretation of the Sunni Koran.
The CRS report, which was published on June 20, 2014, stated that “Several leading representatives of the U.S. intelligence community have stated that ISIL maintains training camps in Iraq and Syria, has the intent to attack the United States and is reportedly recruiting and training individuals to do so.”
The CRS report quotes the leader of ISIL Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi threatening the U.S. by saying the following: “Know, O defender of the Cross, that a proxy war will not help you in the Levant, just as it will not help you in Iraq. Soon, you will be in direct conflict — God permitting — against your will.”
The brutal terrorist organization ISIL is very dangerous for its ability to raise and steal enormous amount of money. Wealthy Sunnis in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have given money to ISIL to help overthrow the bloody regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, who is an Alawite, a sect of Shia Islam. The Syrian dictator Assad is an ally of the Shiite Iran, and its proxy in Lebanon, the terrorist organization Hezbollah. It is also an ally of Russia which has a naval base in Syria.
The rich Sunni Gulf nations have always regarded the Shiite countries as a threat. ISIL also is coercing money from businesses in the cities it conquers. ISIL stole approximately $450 million as well as gold from banks in the city of Mosul, the second largest city of Iraq.
ISIL has conquered many of the Sunni towns in the north and the west of Iraq and is expanding its conquest in Anbar province, including the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. The Shiite government of the incompetent Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and its army abandoned billions of dollars of U.S. equipment and retreated when faced with the blitzkrieg of the ISIL brutal terrorist army. Nouri al-Maliki appointed incompetent Shiite generals and officers demoralizing the Iraqi Army. The Prime Minister also alienated and discriminated the Sunni and the Kurd population and excluded them from his government.
The chaos in Iraq is due to the lack of inclusiveness of the government of Nouri al-Maliki as well as President Obama’s refusal to leave any soldiers behind in Iraq. The Pentagon recommended to leave in Iraq at least 20,000 U.S. troops, as well as Republicans in Congress, but the President, as usual, did not listen to this good advice. These U.S. troops would have gathered intelligence on ISIL and continued training the Iraqi Armed Forces. This was a major blunder of President Obama.
The Obama administration was caught, once again, by surprise. Additionally, President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton secretly delivered weapons from Libya to Turkey to Syria that fell into the hands of ISIL and other al Qaeda linked-terrorist organizations in Syria. Both of them supported the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood and al Qaeda-linked organizations during the 2011 civil war in Libya against Muammar Gaddafi, as it has been pointed out in the report of the Citizens’ Commission on Benghazi. For their actions Barack Obama should be impeached and Hillary Clinton indicted.
The CRS report explained the following: “ISIL’s offensive in June 2014 in northern Iraq demonstrated its army’s lethality and ability to conduct combat operations and manage partnerships with local groups in multiple areas over large geographic distances.” Many experts are convinced that ISIL is planning future attacks on the U.S. and its allies. Unfortunately, ISIL has hundreds of jihadists with Western nations passports. These experienced jihadists will eventually return to the U.S. and Western nations to commit terrorist attacks. ISIL Caliphate now controls parts of Iraq and Syria and its Western jihadists have a training platform as well as financing.
President Obama said that as many as 300 U.S. troops will go to Iraq to establish a joint Iraqi-U.S. operations center. The U.S. soldiers will assess the situation and advise U.S. commanders and Iraqis on what is needed. It is doubtful that such small group of advisors can make a difference. Navy Rear Admiral John Kirby, spokesman for Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, said that ISIL is “well resourced” and “better organized” than most terrorist groups.
The CRS report concluded: “The offensive in northern and central Iraq, led by the Sunni Islamist insurgent and terrorist group ISIL, has raised significant concerns for the United States. These concerns include a possible breakup of Iraq’s political and territorial integrity and the establishment of a potential base for terrorist attacks in the region or even against the U.S. homeland.”
President Obama is largely responsible for endangering our national security and for the Middle East being in flames. In a recent poll only 37% of Americans approve the foreign policy of the president while 57% disapprove.
