West has 'no clear strategy' in war on ISIS, allowing Iranian terrorists to thrive, report declares

                   

The US and Western powers have 'no clear strategy' in their war against the Islamic State, delaying a defeat of the terror group and allowing criminal militias close to Iran to thrive in the region, a damning newreport has claimed.

The Brussel based European Iraqi Freedom Association also blamed US and coalition for helping former Iraqi prime minister during their occupation of his country as the main cause of the current crisis.

The lengthy report by EIFA for the UN Security Council said: "Despite 100 days of bombardment and the United States sending a wide range of weapons and ammunition for Iraqi forces and the Peshmergas in Kurdistan, there is still no clear prospect for a successful end to the war against this barbaric group. American officials believe this fight could go on for several years."

It took only 40 days to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi forces in 1991, and the 2003 conflict to topple Saddam Hussein lasted around 3 weeks, the report noted.

It added: "One wonders why does a war against a terrorist group – which does not compare to the Iraqi army of those days, take this long without any end in sight?

"There is no doubt that the anti-ISIS coalition, and especially the US government, has not had a clear strategy. They have no intention to send troops even though there is no reliable and trustworthy local force on the ground in Iraq or Syria.

"As a result the terrorist and criminal militias associated with Iran have become stronger and in some areas they have been able to take over from ISIS. The criminal record of these Shia forces in Iraq during the past decade has been significantly worse than that of ISIS.

"There is no doubt that the mistakes made by the US and coalition forces in occupying Iraq, helping the authoritarian rule of Maliki and handing Iraq on a silver platter to Iran, have been the main cause of the current crisis."

The report continued: "From a military point of view the bombardments are not effective without the active participation of the Sunni community and tribes. The Sunnis have repeatedly declared their readiness to join the coalition. They have had successful experiences in their fight against al-Qaeda when General Petraeus was the commander of US forces in Iraq.

"But after getting rid of al-Qaeda in Iraq, these tribes were left on their own by the Americans and were then brutally repressed by Maliki. So they are rightly setting some conditions to join the war against ISIS."

The only way to bring Sunni tribes back onto the scene was to end Iranian influence in the Iraqi government, by decreasing the influence of terrorist Shiite militias - otherwise the war against ISIS will turn into a Shiite-Sunni conflict, EIFA said.

It added: "We need a cultural and religious alternative to confront the violent, reactionary and extremist interpretation of Islam, for both Sunnis and Shias. We should support those Muslims who advocate a tolerant Islam.

"To reach these goals, one has to take a firm stance against the religious fascism ruling Iran, evicting it from Iraq and Syria. Then we could witness a reverse trend.

"However it seems that the US, still hoping to become friendly with the Ayatollahs, is reluctant to get anywhere close to this solution. This could lead to disaster."