isil | tellmemoreblogger

Islamic State Militants with a scud missile at a parade

Lately the U.S. news networks have all been covering the Islamic State militant crisis in Iraq and Syria. The situation has progressed so quickly that the U.S. has “had to” authorize airstrikes in Iraq to halt the Islamic State advance. Each day we find out more information about this group and their horrific acts against humanity. U.S. Congressmen and women talk about the need for a greater military presence to stop this “cancer” from spreading any further into the already unstable region. President Obama has made remarks about increasing this airstrike campaign in Iraq in order to combat the terrorist organization. All the while everyone seems to have forgotten how this group got to be so influential and powerful in the first place.

Islamic State Militants with a Tank at a parade

How did a group of radical Islamic State militants get the necessary firepower to overrun two countries almost simultaneously? They got their weapons from the most powerful military in the world of course, the United States. Our U.S. military spent trillions of tax dollars on creating, training and arming Iraq’s military with the most modern military equipment. The plan was to leave Iraq’s own people in-charge of their military so that terrorist organizations (like the Islamic State) could not overrun their country again. However, shortly after leaving Iraq’s military in charge of security, the Islamic State militants began attacking their bases and acquiring all of their weapons. Iraq’s military abandoned their posts at the first sign of conflict and of course, left behind all of their brand new U.S. military equipment.

Islamic State Militants hauling away abandoned military equipment

But why does the Islamic State even exist? Didn’t the U.S. destroy all of the terrorist networks in the Middle East over the past decade? No, obviously they didn’t. Here’s what they did do. The U.S. spent trillions of dollars and more than a decade occupying the Middle East only to find that it is the main source of funding for the very terrorists it has been fighting. Airstrikes, drones and other military assets that were used against the people of the Middle East for the sake of ending terrorism have only caused resentment and anger towards the U.S. The result of this campaign has been the creation of a monster. Islamic State militants are now terrorizing their country and undermining everything that the U.S. has done. It seems to me that occupying a foreign nation and battering it with military equipment is not the best solution to ending terrorism after all.

Now I hear that Obama is authorizing airstrikes in Iraq and possibly Syria in the future. I can’t help but wonder why. How is it that this country has not learned from its mistakes? The longer that we occupy the Middle East with our military, the stronger the resistance becomes. The more military equipment that we send to the Middle East, the more powerful the resistance becomes. After more than a decade of war I wonder if we are still fighting terrorists. Or is it possible that now we’re fighting people who are just sick and tired of our occupation of their country. People who have been so battered by our military that they will do anything necessary to get rid of us. The next time that we hear about the Islamic State being a “cancer” in the Middle East, maybe we should ask what caused that cancer in the first place.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Monday everyone.

ISIS Fighters in Mosul, Iraq

Innocent Victims of Recent ISIS Attacks in Mosul, Iraq

Hundreds of Thousands of Citizens Fleeing the Cities Under Attack by ISIS

After more than a decade of war with Al Qaeda, the United States spent billions of dollars on training programs for Iraq’s police and military forces. The plan was to train Iraq’s own citizens to protect their people and enforce the rule of law so that the U.S. could remove all remaining troops from the country. High grade military equipment, expert training and greatly improved infrastructure now belong to Iraq’s military and police forces as a result of this initiative. However, as of last year, Al Qaeda has taken advantage of the U.S. decision to remove the majority of its troops and it has started attacking Iraq’s cities once again. Each day, more cities are being overrun by the terrorist group and Iraq’s newly trained military forces are failing to maintain control. In fact, most of Iraq’s newly trained forces are abandoning their posts and leaving behind all of the weapons, vehicles and other military equipment that the U.S. gave them to protect their citizens.

Mosul, Ramadi, Fallujah and Tikrit have all fallen to the Al Qaeda run group named ISIS (Islamic State for Iraq and Syria) and Baghdad appears to be the next city in their sights. Innocent people from these cities are desperately fleeing in search of safety from the violent military attacks. Meanwhile Al Qaeda is seizing all of the U.S. purchased military equipment and using those very weapons to retake the cities that they once controlled. It seems that the U.S. is experiencing déjà vu as this is not the first time that it supplies a Middle Eastern nation with weapons to later find that those very weapons are in its enemy’s hands. With better equipment and a greater influence than before, the rebel forces threaten to undue all of the progress made by the U.S. military over the past decade.

Talks between Iraq and the U.S. government are currently underway to respond to this urgent threat. Iraqi officials say that the rebel group has grown much stronger and if action is not taken soon then Baghdad could fall as early as this week. ISIS has used Syria’s current state of chaos to transform the country into a hub for religious radicalization. Revamped support for Al Qaeda’s values and improved weaponry from constant raids have given the group enough traction to once again take control of the region. Airstrikes are currently being considered by both governments as the threat of losing the entire country to Al Qaeda’s rule is on the verge of happening.

Trillions of U.S. tax payer dollars have not only gone to waste in the Middle East, but now also gone to the enemy that it’s been fighting for years. Frustration runs high throughout the country as failed military operations have taken a serious toll on the U.S. economy. As a citizen of the U.S I feel seriously disappointed in my political leaders for failing to accomplish anything with this war. With more than a decade of military occupation in Iraq, I could understand why their citizens support any form of U.S. resistance. How would we feel if another country occupied our land, threatened our safety and tried telling us how to live? My hope is that our troops will return home sooner than 2016 and that the U.S. government will put an end to this careless waste of our resources.

What do you think about the situation in Iraq? Do you think that the U.S. should pull all of its troops before the 2016 date or do you think that we should maintain a military presence as long as possible? Can we afford to continue fighting Al Qaeda or is it time that we cut our losses and leave the fate of Iraq to its own people? Leave a comment and let me know what your thoughts are on this situation. Thanks for stopping by.

Sources

ibtimes.com

cnn.com

Iraq on a World Map