A Sunni solution to ISIS
The year 2003 radically changed the geopolitical situation not only in Iraq, but in the Middle East in general. To counter the Bush administration’s vision of a democratic Iraq, the Iranian and Syrian regimes responded by encouraging radical Islamic movements to thwart what they saw as an existential threat. Any democracy in Iraq threatened to destabilize the autocratic regimes in Tehran and Damascus, which also saw American military support of democratic reform as an immediate danger to their survival.
Alas, the Americans in Iraq made mistakes, which played into Iranian and Syrian hands. By disbanding the Iraqi army, the only truly national institution, Washington opened Iraq’s borders to Iranian and Syrian infiltration and subversion.… Seguir leyendo »