Anti-American sentiments in the countries battered by ISIL militancy in “completely understandable” given the “chaos” the US has created in the region, says Jennifer Loewenstein from University of Wisconsin.
“The United Sates paved the way for the creation of ISIL,” Loewenstein told Press TV in a phone interview on Tuesday.
ISIL, which controls parts of Syria, sent its fighters into neighboring Iraq last June and quickly seized large swaths of territory straddling the border between the two countries.
“There is no question that the US war in 2003 and US involvement well before that paves the way for this kind of chaos in the Middle East. And I think that more Americans should be aware of that,” Loewenstein said.
She noted that this fact is known to most of those inside the region and that is what makes “the growing anti-American sentiment completely understandable”.
Watching Iraq “break up” by the Takfiri terrorists would be “disastrous”, Loewenstein said, calling for giving a stronger voice to “various minorities and majorities” in the crisis-hit country.
Washington, on the other hand, has adopted an interventionist policy that “polarizes” the Iraqi population, she said, stating that many would not be joining the Takfiris if they do not feel they are taking side against the US.
The US policy “pushes many people who would not otherwise be part of ISIL to side with them,[although] not deep in their hearts.”
Washington has already dispatched thousands of troops to Iraq to help train and advise Iraqi forces in their fight against the terrorists.
Apart from that, the US military has also been leading a coalition to conduct airstrikes allegedly aimed at ISIL militants in Syria as well as Iraq since last year, despite which the Takfiris have gained ground in some of the regions.
NT/NT
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