US, UK Invasion of Iraq Behind ISIL Rise – Veterans for Peace

© AFP 2023 / SAFIN HAMEDBritish military advisers instruct Kurdish Peshmerga fighters during a training session at a shooting range on the outskirts of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq
British military advisers instruct Kurdish Peshmerga fighters during a training session at a shooting range on the outskirts of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq - Sputnik International
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US and Britain are to blame for the rise of Islamic State, an expert told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Yulia Shamporova – The United States and Britain’s 2003-2011 occupation of Iraq led to the rise of the Islamic State militant group, the executive director of Veterans for Peace (VFP) organization told Sputnik on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, British Labour Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, speaking in the House of Commons, said Britain must not undertake additional military action against IS until the so-called Chilcot Inquiry on the Iraq War has been published.

"The invasion and occupation of Iraq by the US and allies like Britain set the stage for the rise of ISIL or DAESH [Islamic State]. But the primary specific actions that have directly led to DAESH was L Paul Bremer's dismantling of the Iraqi military and the poorly planned and implemented De-Ba'thification processes. Both alienated Sunni military and political leaders and many average people," Michael T. McPhearson said.

An Iraqi soldier is seen near an Iraqi Army tank, which was destroyed in the US-led invasion, in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 9, 2009 - Sputnik International
Iraq War Fundamental Reason of ISIL Expansion - Stop the War Coalition
McPhearson claims these moves divided a nation that kept a fragile semi-stability only by "the iron hand of Hussein," a dictatorship that was abruptly removed by the invasion.

"It seems clear to me that the US bears the primary responsibility for creating the conditions for DAESH to come to power. It is also clear that continued use of military force is not the solution. A political solution is the answer," McPhearson told Sputnik.

The United Kingdom was part of the US-led coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003 after accusing Iraq's then-leader Saddam Hussein of backing terrorism and possessing weapons of mass destruction.

The Iraq War claimed the lives of over 100,000 civilians between 2003 and 2011, according to the Iraq Body Count database.

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