A few weeks ago, the White House announced that it might take 20 years to destroy or defeat ISIS. This statement raises serious questions. It took only a few months to dismantle the Iraqi army, topple its leadership, and occupy the entire country during the 2003 invasion. If 20 years are needed for ISIS, does this imply the U.S. wants ISIS to persist for that long? Perhaps to further destabilize the Middle East? If this is the case, then the so-called war on ISIS is more like a gentle tickling of the organization than a serious effort to dismantle it.

Evidence of this apparent lack of seriousness comes from a report by Rudaw, a Kurdish TV channel owned by Nechirvan Barzani, nephew of Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). According to the report, supported by accounts from a Peshmerga leader in the area, the U.S. has seemingly acted to shield ISIS from Peshmerga forces in Sinjar. The report describes how American actions appear more aligned with protecting ISIS rather than eradicating it.

These observations were highlighted in comments on a Facebook post by Kurdish writer Kamran Karadaghi.

For more details, see the original Rudaw report (in Kurdish):
rudaw.net/sorani/kurdistan/09112015
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https://www.facebook.com/fadhil.qaradaghi/posts/915969771789874