ISIL a useful tool for US to destabilize Middle East: Analyst

America’s strategy in Syria has been to utilize terrorist groups to undermine independent governments and wreck havoc in the Middle East, an American political analyst in Virginia says.

“It seems to me that the long-term plan that the United States has is to essentially use ISIS as a means of destabilizing the region, the Middle Eastern region, said Keith Preston, chief editor of AttacktheSystem.com.

“It’s not that the United States has a favorable view of the ISIS but I think that the United States is simply trying to work both ends against the middle in the sense that they want ISIS to be a disruptive force in Syria and in other parts of the Middle East where there are governments that the United States ultimately wants to over-flow,” Preston told Press TV on Wednesday.

“At the same time, I think that the United States does not want ISIS to engage in terrorist actions against the United States itself or against its allies in Europe or the Middle East such as Israel and the [Persian] Gulf states,” he added.

“So, on one hand the United States wants to convene ISIS, at the same time I don’t think they want to see ISIS completely defeated, because of their usefulness as a disruptive source in the region and because they are inflicting so much destabilization on Syria.”

US President Donald Trump has ordered increased military operations in Syria and delegated more authority to his generals despite lacking a comprehensive strategy, an approach that may spark a confrontation with Syria, Iran and Russia, according to US officials and analysts.

The United States has taken a series of military actions over the past three months against Syrian government forces and its allies, including the shoot-down of a Syrian jet on Sunday.

In April, Trump ordered cruise missile strikes against a Syrian airfield from which Washington said a deadly chemical weapons attack was launched.

Analysts say these incidents are tactical and not part of any military strategy in Syria.

“The primary objective of the United States continues to be eliminating independent nations in the Middle East that refuse to be incorporated into the Washington system, whether its Syria or whether its Iran or whether its Hezbollah in Lebanon,” Preston said.

“So, ISIS is not something that the US sees favorably but ISIS can be a useful tool for the US in some instances because of its efforts to destabilize Syria and I think ultimately the United States wants to see this period.”

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