Donald Trump is now claiming that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are the founders of Isis. Let's review a little history. The modern resurgence of the Salafist or Wahhabi movement is largely attributed to the work of an Egyptian named Qutb. After years of imprisonment, he was executed by the injection Government around 1966. Al Qaeda, Isis, Isil and the other Salafist organizations are simply franchises of the greater Salafist movement. Thus, Clinton and Obama are being given credit or founding hey movement that has existed for more than 50 years in its current rebirth. The notion that the answer to the worldwide terrorism problem is simply to defeat Isis Falls woefully short of the mark. It is also laughable to think that the movement requires a geographic base in this era of encrypted Internet. It does not take much training to teach someone to walk into a crowded public place and start shooting people. To defeat this movement requires a long and extensive cooperation between Western states and the Nation of Islam. It cannot be done quickly or easily.
The problem is made more difficult by the Contest between Shia and Sunni muslems. It is further complicated by the contest at the nation State level for dominance in the middle east between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The United States in particular has to play a balancing roll between these nations and factions. It is further complicated by the need to provide a backstop to Israel. It is highly likely that if the United States does it's job well, it will be serially criticized by all the nations and factions in the middle east. We certainly don't need this thoughtless political dialogue in the United States. We do not have now nor will we have any miracle workers.
Realism is an unpleasant thing. But, we are sorely in need of it now and certainly do not need some buffoon like Donald Trump as president.
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