Al Qaeda vs. ISIS: Al-Zawahiri Declares War on Al-Baghdadi

[abaris]

How so?  I think the region was destined to devolve into civil war regardless of what we did.

From a purely Western perspective, removing Saddam wasn't the best idea ever. Which has been foretold by anyone really knowing the region. Also the idea of blindly supporting the insurgency against Assad by bombing his forces wasn't born by the brightest minds either. Again, from a purely Western perspective. And one could argue that with Saddam and Assad firmly in power, less people within the region would have died. It certainly would have been as easy for ISIS to take a foothold.

But if we're talking Western stupidity, it already started in 1979, with the blind support of what was called freedom fighters against the Soviets in Afghanistan. And which turned out to be the breeding ground for Al Quaeda.

All born out of criminal ignorance of the region, the different ethnicities and their conflicting interests. And it continues, with the latest stupidity of showing Erdogan support when fighting the PKK. The same PKK, who is violently opposed to ISIS and fought them off at Kobanê. Weakening them is strenghtening ISIS. But no, we don't negotiate with terrorists, don't we.