Terror groups securing US interests in Middle East: Commentator

Jill Stein, a US politician from the Green Party, has accused Washington of backing terrorism for its own interests. Stein, who was her party’s nominee in November’s presidential election, recently took to Twitter to accuse the US government of funding and arming terrorist groups such as Daesh. Her scathing remarks come at a time when the US-led international coalition against Daesh has proved to be ineffective and serious questions have been raised with regard to the West’s role in protecting terror groups. To shed more light on the issue, Press TV has interviewed Peter Sinnott, an independent scholar from New York, and Michael Maloof, a former Pentagon official from Washington.

Michael Maloof believes that President Barack Obama has never had the resolve to fight terrorism in the Middle East region. 

From the beginning of the war in Syria, he noted, Obama was after reinforcing extremist groups to ultimately oust President Bashar al-Assad.

He added, however, that facing international pressure over the crimes committed by Daesh, Obama was forced to declare an artificial war on these groups.

“It is very clear that Obama knew as far back as 2012 that his administration in fact was supporting the more radical Sunnis, particularly in Iraq and Syria, with the goal of kicking out Syrian President [Bashar] al-Assad. To back this up, there is a 2012 defense intelligence agency report that basically said the same thing,” the analyst noted.  

He further mentioned that “what we're seeing today is something even more strange. Even though the United States along with Russia and even Iran have agreed to the 2012 Geneva Communique, which outlines an approach for not only a ceasefire but a peaceful transition in Syria, the United States is undermining that by going ahead and waving requirements under the US Arms Export Control Act so that these terrorists can then get weapons directly. This is now happening and this actually buttresses what Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been doing all along. So, it raises very serious questions of just what is the Obama administration's policy and strategy on this. And it's clear they have none."

However, Peter Sinnott, the other panelist on the show, described Jill Stein’s remarks as unfair and groundless accusations which “border on insanity,” saying such comments only seek to undermine Obama’s legacy and the gains he has made against terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda and Daesh, in recent years.

“What we have right now is a situation where the ISIS [Daesh] is under siege. It's not able to move West anymore," Sinnott underlined, "But I barely believe that if we look closely at ISIS or ISIL, we see that it's not really that committed to its own self-preservation. What it has become is an organization we knew for butchery, but which is also now focusing almost exclusively on the Shia world."

“So, I really believe that the idea of ISIS or ISIL as being any kind of a lie or stooge of the United States is absurd. I was a translator with the New York Times when they brought back 100 kilos of al-Qaeda and Taliban documents and as one of many translators, I saw a lot. But I never saw any kind of link or anything that could be construed as being supportive of the United States on any level. In fact, the United States was the main enemy of al-Qaeda,” the analyst concluded.

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