"If it were not for the American invasion of Iraq, and the subsequent disbanding of the Iraqi army by the United States, there would be no ISIS. ISIS is a direct outgrowth of the American invasion."
-Richard Clarke, Former White House counterterrorism czar
From CNN's "Long Road To Hell: America in Iraq", 10-26-15
[Edited on 10/27/2015 by robslob]
I would add that much of the financial resources that allowed ISIS to form were in fact provided by the tax payers of the United States as much of the "surge" funds we bribed the Sunnis not to kill is with in 2009 of course found their way to those who now lead ISIS. Remember the stories of cargo planes loaded with American dollars being dispersed all over Iraq? Where do you think this cash eventually ended up?
I also believe much of Sadam Hussein's personal wealth and that of the Iraq treasury was passed along to Sunni's we displaced after the invasion. Sunni's who are now members of ISIS.
The Iraqi invasion and subsequent blundering attempts to build a friendly government will perhaps go down as the biggest American foreign policy mistake in our history. No matter how hard the cronies who are to blame try and spin it as some sort of success.
