(Jerusalem Post) Zvi Mazel - An extremist Islamic state is coming into being in the heart of the Mideast. It will become a bastion of terrorism, unleashing its attacks against neighbors and sending its faithful on operations in Europe and the U.S. ISIS - the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria - is a jihadist terrorist organization that has already taken large areas in Syria and made significant gains in Iraq. It is now in the process of setting up a hard-core Islamic state in the heart of the Middle East. Secretary of State John Kerry has been making the rounds of Arab states to see whether he can cobble together a coalition to act in Syria and Iraq. He came to Cairo bearing gifts, and pledged to unfreeze speedily the dispatch of Apache helicopters badly needed by Egypt to fight jihadist terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula. After the Americans conquered Baghdad in 2003, the Iraqi Army was disbanded, the civil service dissolved, and the power - held for so long by the Sunni minority - handed over to the Shi'ites, who promptly initiated discriminatory measures against the Sunni minority while moving closer to Shia Iran, the enemy of the West. The writer, a fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, is a former ambassador to Romania, Egypt, and Sweden.
2014-06-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive