|
Trending Topics
|
Source: http://warontherocks.com/2014/06/5-questions-with-ambassador-jeffrey-on-isis-and-iraq/
When Authority Erodes in the Sunni Middle East, Al-Qaeda Terrorists Gain Traction
(War on the Rocks) Ryan Evans interviews Amb. James F. Jeffrey - "In Syria, the United States for the first time since the 1980s allowed a regional Near East crisis to degenerate without [playing] any significant role, inadvertently helping give birth to a truly lethal al-Qaeda offshoot." "There must be a strategy to prevent a permanent ISIS presence in parts of Iraq and Syria." "From Pakistan to Mali, it's now obvious that within the Sunni Middle East, when authority erodes, terrorists with an al-Qaeda philosophy will spring up and gain traction. Attempting to stem this by imposing Western institutions and ideals has failed miserably." Regarding Iran, "while our interests in Iraq momentarily coincide (maintaining unity, fighting al-Qaeda), our larger interests do not, be it in Syria, or cooperation with our Israeli, Turkish and Sunni Arab partners, or in trying to win over Sunnis in ISIS-dominated areas. Too close a U.S. approach to Iran would be fatal." Amb. James F. Jeffrey, a Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, served as U.S. envoy to Baghdad (2010-2012) and as deputy national security advisor in the George W. Bush administration.