"Arab Spring" and ISIS...

Former CIA Director David Petraeus speaks at an event for the Institute for National Security Studies at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Jan. 28, 2014, in Tel Aviv.

“ISIS in a sense is the evolution of an organization that we did defeat, Al Qaeda in Iraq,” Petraeus told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in an interview published Monday. “Some of the very hard work we did to help re-establish the fabric of Iraqi society — to bring the Sunni Arabs back into Iraqi society and give them an incentive to support the new Iraq rather than to oppose it — was undone. It created fertile ground once again for the planting of the seeds of extremism and alienated the Sunni Arab component of Iraqi society.

“What really revived Al Qaida in Iraq and turned them into the Islamic State was the civil war in Syria,” Petraeus continued. “They grew, gained experience and could identify competent leaders and then begin to capture arms, funding and generate significant resources to enable their expansion. People saw ISIS coming. Even out of the intelligence world, it was well known what ISIS was doing in Syria.”

The U.S. has been leading a coalition in bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria, months after President Barack Obama initially dismissed the militant group as “JV.”

News Buzzard wrote:It was Bush who introduced al qaeda to Iraq with his disastrous invasion, and it was Bush who negotiated the terms of our departure from Iraq! You can't re-write history, as much as you try!!!

Mission Accomplished!!

“Some of the very hard work we did to help re-establish the fabric of Iraqi society — to bring the Sunni Arabs back into Iraqi society and give them an incentive to support the new Iraq rather than to oppose it — was undone. It created fertile ground once again for the planting of the seeds of extremism and alienated the Sunni Arab component of Iraqi society.
—Petraeus

News Buzzard wrote:It was Bush who introduced al qaeda to Iraq with his disastrous invasion, and it was Bush who negotiated the terms of our departure from Iraq! You can't re-write history, as much as you try!!!

Mission Accomplished!!

The Associated Press is reporting that the Islamic State and Al Qaeda have reached an accord after a summit meeting in northern Syria.

This is a very bad development, but not unexpected. Abu Sayyef in the Philippines, Boko Haram in West Africa, Al Shabaab in East Africa, and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula all already pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Just this week, Egypt’s most dangerous Jihadist group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, also joined the Islamic State. In addition, 5 prominent Taliban leaders also pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.

We are now seeing the dream of the Caliphate being realized by Jihadis worldwide. Far from having them “on the run,” they are making strides and unifying, fighting in more places with more fighters than at any time in the past several hundred years.

Half-hearted measures, micromanagement by unqualified politicians and a Vietnam-style strategy of gradual escalation are sure to fail and, unlike the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, today’s Jihadist enemies are already in our midst and plotting to attack us here.

Meanwhile, our irresponsible, feckless leaders focus on fringe pet issues of the Left rather than real national security issues, sitting by as the Islamic State spreads its violent Jihad from the Philippines to Libya and Nigeria.

Our children will pay the price for such horrible, misguided policies, which amount to perhaps the biggest strategic blunder in American history.
—terrortrendsbulletin

obervantone wrote:A little history lesson...
Why did The US invade Iraq and go after Saddam Hussein after the 9-11 attack instead of focusing on the group that actually attacked us?

DUBAI — Iran sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, state media reported, establishing a military presence off the coast of Yemen where Saudi Arabia is leading a bombing campaign to oust the Tehran-allied Houthi movement. The Alborz destroyer and Bushehr support vessel sailed from Bandar Abbas on a mission to protect Iranian shipping from piracy, Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said in comments cited by Press TV. Saudi Arabia and several Arab allies have imposed an air and naval blockade on Yemen as part of a two-week campaign to oust the Houthis.
NBC News

U.S. President Barack Obama is trumpeting the recently announced interim nuclear framework agreement between Iran’s Shiite Islamic Republic and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (United States, France, Great Britain, China, and Russia) plus Germany (P5+1) as a good deal that will make the world safer.

He should be mindful of Newton’s Third Law of Motion: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The unintended consequences of this agreement could make it more likely to set-off a dangerous reaction with other Middle East countries that will lead to more chaos and war and a regional nuclear arms race.

The agreement falls short of President Obama’s earlier statements that Iran must abide by U.N. resolutions to curb and/or eliminate its illegal nuclear weapons development program in exchange for international sanctions relief.  Moreover, it does not address Iran’s ballistic missile program or its aggressive interference in neighboring states affairs.
Breitbart.com