Anyone who has been paying attention will know that Islamic State is an organization started by Iraqi refugees who flooded into Syria. For example, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State, was interned in Iraq in 2004. Defense Department records show that he was released in December, 2004. (There are claims that he was not released until 2010; however, that looks a good deal like "retro-engineering" of the historical record by those who want to blame Obama--the official record is that he was released in 2004.) He then took over Al Qaeda in Iraq, and it was renamed the Islamic State in Iraq. He was there until 2012 or 2013, depending on whose version one accepts. It is certain that he, as the leader of ISI, took over radical jihadi rebel groups in Syria, in a bloody internal war. Not long after that, in 2014, ISIS invaded Iraq. They drove on Ramadi, but finding resistance unexpectedly tough, they left a holding force, and advanced on Tikrit. They took Tidrit, and slaughtered more than 4000 people, most of them prisoners who had surrendered in the brief siege of Tikrit. Al Baghdadi had lead a large force of ISIS troops on Tikrit, and was joined by a large group of former Ba'athist party loyalists. That was in late June, 2014, and it was at that time that i personally realized that ISIS was an Iraqi Sunni organization. Saddam Hussein''s full name was Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti, and most of his closest supporters, advisers and military officers were also Tikriti tribesmen, with the locational name al-Tikriti. I commented on this in these fora in the summer of 2014.
Attempting to blame any of that on Obama is nothing but pig-headed partisan hostility. The 2003 invasion of Iraq and the more or less quick defeat of Sunni insurgents is the origin of ISIS. The following is from the forced migration review:
Quote:Since spring 2003 the region has seen a massive migratory movement from Iraq into its neighbouring countries. Syria is the primary destination of refugees due to the historical relations between the two countries, and because the regulations in force do not require them to obtain an entrance visa.
Syria has offered Iraqi refugees care and assistance, and continues to do so, in spite of the limited nature of its material resources. At the start of 2007 UNHCR estimated that the number of Iraqi refugees in Syria exceeded 1.2 million, a huge influx to a country with a population of 18 million. This heavy number of arrivals has had an extreme effect on all facets of life in Syria, particularly on the services which the state offers to citizens. There has been a sharp increase in the cost of living and the unexpected weight of numbers has had dramatic impacts on the infrastructure and the economy.
(Snip . . . )
Iraqi refugees constitute a numerically enormous mass of humanity in comparison to the number of the inhabitants of the region. Certain agencies estimate that the number of refugees in states neighboring Iraq is greater than the total number of refugees in all the countries of the European Union. Syria’s economy and infrastructure are buckling under the great weight of the burden. The relief and aid which Syria has offered to Iraqi refugees in its territory over the past two years (2005-06) alone has amounted to $162 million. In light of the continuing rise in incoming Iraqi refugee numbers, it is estimated that the cost of humanitarian, health and education support for Iraqi refugees over the next two years will exceed $256 million.
Source--a PDF document
Keep in mind that the United Nations High Commission for Refugees made its estimate of the number of Iraqi refugees and the cost to Syria at the beginning of 2007, before anyone even knew that Mr. Obama would be a candidate for the presidency.
In many respects, although the split between Sunni and Shi'ite dates back to the seventh century, there was never a major upheaval and war as their was when Protestant and Catholic split in the 16th century. But we may be witnessing that now. ISIS are Sunni extremists, and have received a good deal of material support from Saudi Arabia. More disturbing than these military stumblebums in ISIS is the serious break which is even now developing between Saudi Arabia--the wealthiest and most influential Sunni nation--and Iran, the most populous, wealthiest and most influential Shi'ite nation, which is happening just now.
Blaming any of this on Mr. Obama is stark, staring idiocy. If any blame attaches, it would be to the completely unnecessary 2003 invasion of Iraq. Even that was only a trigger event, as the existence of Al Qaeda and the rise of Sunni fundamentalist radicalism probably guaranteed such an event sooner or later. The invasion of Iraq, if anything, can only be blamed for making it sooner rather than later.
