Americas...:Obama: ’ISIL’ Consequence of US Invasion to Iraq...

Home
- Middle East
  - Lebanon
  - Syria
  - Bahrain
  - Palestine
  - Zionist Entity
  - Yemen
  - Saudi Arabia
  - Iraq
  - More from Middle East
- Americas
- Asia-Pacific
  - Iran
  - Pakistan
  - Afghanistan
  - Koreas
  - India
  - China
  - More from Asian States
- Africa
  - Sudan
  - Egypt
  - Libya
  - Tunisia
  - Algeria
  - More from Africa
- Europe
  - United Kingdom
  - Russia
  - Turkey
  - France
  - Germany
  - Spain
  - Greece
  - Italy
  - More from Europe
ISLAMIC RESISTANCE
SECRETARY-GENERAL
Voices
Ten Day Dawn
The Biggest Crime
Martyr Leaders

Local Editor

US President Barack Obama traced the origins of "ISIL" militants back to the presidency of George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq back in 2003, arguing that its growth was an "unintended consequence" of the war.

In an interview with Vice News, Obama said the rise of "ISIL" could be directly linked to America's excursion into Iraq under Bush.

"Two things: One is, "ISIL" is a direct outgrowth of al-Qaeda in Iraq that grew out of our invasion," Obama declared.

He added that it was "an example of unintended consequences, which is why we should generally aim before we shoot."

Obama stated that he was "confident" a coalition consisting of 60 nations "will slowly push back "ISIL" out of Iraq," but added that the challenge of stopping extremism won't stop unless there was a political solution to the internal strife affecting so many countries in the Middle East.

In parallel, the US president showed concern that "even if "ISIL" is defeated, the underlying problem of disaffected Sunnis around the world - but particularly in some of these areas including Libya, including Yemen - where a young man who's growing up has no education, has no prospects for the future, is looking around and the one way he can get validation, power, respect, is if he's a fighter."

"That's a problem we're going to have, generally. And we can't keep on thinking about counterterrorism and security as entirely separate from diplomacy, development, education."

The US president dismissed concerns that the US spent too much on foreign aid, noting that just over one percent of the federal budget goes to other nations.

Moreover, he argued that "we should be thinking about making investments" overseas that would prevent America from sending troops to engage in military operations.

Obama's comments regarding "ISIL" marked the first time he had framed the extremist group's existence as a consequence of American foreign policy decisions.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team