@BillRM,
BillRM wrote:
Sure the invasion of Iraq set up a power vacuum
What else caused it? There was no Islamist presence in Iraq prior to the invasion. You can't wipe out a guerrilla army with force alone. You're not going to stop Sunni villages siding with whoever gives them the best deal whether that be Is, Al Qaida, Al-Nusra Front, Khorasan Group, Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar, Jabhat Ansar al-Din, Harakat Fajr ash-Sham al-Islamiya, Harakat Sham al-Islam, Ghuraba al-Sham, Fatah al-Islam, Muhajirin wa-Ansar Alliance, Jund al-Aqsa, Liwaa al-Umma, Liwa al-Haqq, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Turkistan Islamic Party,Islamic Muthanna Movement, Imam Bukhari Jamaat or any of the lesser known Jihadi groups.
Or you could try giving the Sunnis an actual voice in government, which is the only solution that has any chance of working.
Al Qaida was never the only Jihadist game in town, and the fact that you believe it was, shows how badly informed you are.