1. Suddenly, out of the blue almost there appeared in the Middle East a powerful force seemingly moved by a desire to set up an Islamic state, a Caliphate no less.
2. And this force has been amazingly successful. They have literally conquered swathes of Iraq and have set up a Government. They are set to advance further and the Iraqi forces have not really been able to stop them.
3. Where did they come from? Just like the Taliban they were created by the United States of America.
4. The Americans fear the rise of the Shiites, the Islamic sect that is most against the West.
5. After more than 10 years of the occupation of Iraq the Americans realised they could not stay there any longer. When they left they persuaded the majority Iraqi Shiites to form a bipartisan Government with the minority Sunni.
6. But the Shiites decided to deprive the Sunni of a role in the Government. The Sunni Vice-President was accused of plotting against the Government and he had to escape to Turkey to avoid arrest and possible execution or assassination by the Iraqi Government. And so Iraq which was once ruled by Saddam Hussein, a Sunni became a Shiite State.
7. Then came the uprisings in Syria to overthrow Bashar Assad, a Shiite. America had always wanted to replace Bashar’s Shiite Government with a Sunni Government. With Iraq and Iran under Shiite rule, a Shiite Government in Syria would tilt the balance in the Middle East in favour of the Shiite – the most violent enemy of the American.
8. And so when the attempt was made to overthrow Bashar’s Government, the Americans saw an opportunity to replace Bashar with a Sunni Government.
9. To ensure this would be the result of the civil war in Syria, America provided military aid and money to the Sunni rebels in Syria to ensure their overthrow of Bashar.
10. Many of the Sunni fighters were fanatically against the Shiite. They readily accept United States aid and then decided to cross from Syria into Iraq to overthrow the Shiite Government there. They envision a new Sunni Caliphate to rule over Sham, the territory which was divided by the British and the French into Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.
11. If the Sunnis succeed in their Islamic state it would endanger Israel and American interest in the region. Suddenly the United States find that overthrowing Bashar is not such a good idea.
12. Instead the United States should ally with Syria to fight against the jihadists from Europe now flocking to join the Sunni Islamic State forces to overthrow the Governments of Iraq and Syria. Should a fanatical Islamic state in Sham materialise, the Americans may find a more implacable enemy.
13. The United States seems unable to learn from the failures of their past strategies. They created the Taliban to fight Russia in Afghanistan. That turned awry.
14. They went to war against Afghanistan and Iraq, believing with shock and awe they would finish victorious in three months. After ten years of costly wars in these countries they have succeeded only in putting in place extremist Muslim Governments. They are now unable to extricate themselves from these two countries.
15. They tried to promote regime change in Arab countries and only succeeded in destabilizing these countries. Democracy ends with anti-Americans extreme Islamic Governments being elected. The United States now finds itself having to support undemocratic overthrows of democratically elected Governments.
16. And now the jihadists of the Islamic Caliphate. Without United States involvement in Middle Eastern affairs the American journalist would not have been beheaded.
17. The American people are hopelessly ignorant of the world outside America. They believe whatever their Governments is doing is good for America. They will never learn simply because their print and electronic media are not under their control.
18. The United States belief that change from authoritarian rule to democracy would result in friendlier Governments is naive. Decades of United States support for Israel and anti-Islamic policies have made anti-American Islamic parties popular. Once elections are held following demoralization, the Islamists would win. And anti-Americanism will be even more violent.
19. America has much to learn about foreign relations.
