Former Commander Of U.S. Forces In Middle East: US ‘Losing’ Battle Against ISIS
US is “trying to reinforce the status quo that existed before September 11, 2001”
Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com
February 22, 2016
A retired General has warned that Islamic extremists are gaining ground in the Middle East, and that the US strategy to combat ISIS is woefully outdated.
“Unfortunately, we have lost ground over time,” retired Gen. John P. Abizaid, commented in a recent interview with West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center’s magazine.
Abizaid, a former commander of U.S. Central Command, also urged that the extremist ideology is becoming stronger.
“The scope of the ideological movement, the geographic dispersion of Islamic extremism, the number of terror attacks, the number of people swearing allegiance, and the ground they hold have all increased,” said Abizaid.
“Groups like the Islamic State have now taken on state-like forms and features that are unlike anything we’ve seen in the past. So on balance we are in a worse position strategically with regard to the growth of international terrorism, Islamic terrorism in particular, than we were after September 2001,” he added.
Abizaid further warned that the US is failing to recognise that borders are crumbling in the Middle East, and that the Pentagon’s strategy is backwards looking.
“I do not think you solve the problem by trying to reinforce the status quo that existed before September 11, 2001,” he said.
The Rest…HERE
