During the State of the Union Address in Washington D.C. on January 20, 2015 President Obama urged Congress to pass a joint resolution to authorize the use of force against ISIL.
ISIL is a radical extremist Islamist rebel group that controls territory in Iraq and Syria and also operates in eastern Libya, the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, and other areas of the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
The group grew significantly under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after entering the Syrian Civil War, it established a huge presence in Sunni-majority areas of Syria within the governorates of Ar-Raqqah, Idlib, Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo.
In July 2014, ISIL was said to have recruited more than 6,300 fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, some of whom were believed to have previously fought under the banner of the Free Syrian Army or FSA. This is at the same time they were receiving support from the US.
It should be understood that ISIL and the FSA are in many ways practically indistinguishable from each other. The only people who fail to recognize that are the US, which honestly believes it can support the one and not the other.
See video: See video: Busted: US trained ISIS in secret base in Jordan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu0YtkHRBWg
See video: US was responsible for training ISIL in Jordan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhuo7-U7mOo
Making matters worse, Riad Assaad, leader of the US-supported Free Syrian Army, announced recently that his group had no intention of joining the anti-ISIL coalition that Washington was assembling nor would it participate in attacks on ISIL. He also made it clear once again that the FSA’s goal was not to fight against other terrorist groups but overthrow the Syrian government and take over power in Syria.
In addition FSA commander Bassil Idriss was quoted by Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star as saying that he regularly cooperates with ISIL in attacking Assad government forces along the Syria-Lebanon border. According to the paper, “Fighting at the border crossing in Qalamoun is actually a joint FSA-ISIL operation.”
This mutual collaboration is one of the main reasons, the paper cites (along with corruption) why a large number of American weapons have ended up in the hands of ISIL in the first place.
Such matters are known in Congress, which has repeatedly shirked its responsibility to declare war against the group.
See video: A debate over war – sending arms into chaos – Sen. Rand Paul Argues Against U.S. arming Syrian rebels on Senate Floor – September 18, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DveDwEk122Y
Further complicating the situation is the fact that regional US “allies” are in point of fact funding ISIL.
See report: The United States’ biggest “allies” are funding ISIL: http://www.presstv.com/detail/2014/08/08/374537/americas-biggest-allies-funding-isis/
Such is the state of affairs that we find ourselves in today.
It is unclear if President Obama is just hopelessly misinformed on this or if he is receiving bad advice and intelligence information from advisors.
