Opinion  Ron Ben-Yishai
ISIS expansions in Iraq and Syria bring Middle East to brink of complete chaos
Ron Ben-Yishai
Published: 11.06.14, 20:05
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22 Talkbacks for this article
1. so what else is new here?
arne ,   chicago usa   (06.11.14)
Animals allways fight one another. It's the law of the jungle, it's the nature of things.They fight until they run out of steam then they take a break slow down, rest up and get started again.Trouble is they keep making babies so it perpetuates itself.
2. You go sunnis
Jhan   (06.11.14)
And shi'ites too, it's Allah's will that you off each other - I can't stress this too highly, 72 virgins are awaiting you if you just off an Arab Mohammedan so get busy darlings.
3. Its time for Kerry to organise peace talks with Isil/Iraq
Alan ,   SA   (06.11.14)
He is very good at "peace talks"..Im sure his intervention will add sauce to the negociations
4. Remember SykesPicot gave Golan to French Syria
Alan ,   SA   (06.11.14)
5. Maybe that's what Obama always wanted
robert ,   antwerp Belgium   (06.11.14)
Under his presidency, many states in the middle east have stumbled into chaos with the extreme fringes of Islam taking advantage. Is it part of Obama"s agendato help turn the middle east into an al qaeda califate?
6. stunning intelligence failure
CJK   (06.11.14)
while obama was obsessing about emptying gitmo of its al qaeda inhabitants, a much larger, rejuvenated al qaeda was capturing huge swaths of territory, first in northern syria, and now in the sunni heartland of iraq. obama and his juvenile advisors seem to have been taken by surprise with this stunning military feat by a few thousand jihadists, without tanks, without war planes, without any advanced weapons. if they had any advance intelligence about this jihadi plan, they certainly did nothing about it. however, it is more likely that this was a stunning intelligence failure by their very badly managed intelligence agencies.
7. Sotero, the sunni, is to blame..
Beary White ,   Norway   (06.11.14)
Now he is arming and training the Islamic terrorists in Syria, prolonging the bloodshed for the civilians. The same terrorists as the American troops fought in Afghanistan. His support for the "arab-spring" in the north African countries has led to more evil Islamic states with terror against the civilians. He also supports the muslim brotherhood in Egypt. His hasty troop-retraction from Irak has just paved way for more evil Islamic terror. Just to have " clean hands" he is blaming the Hamas for rocket firings, even he is supporting the PA governments which INCLUDE hamass, - what a double-runner!! I would NEVER buy a car from this kind of "hypocrate".
8. @ 5
sheik rattle & roll ,   USA   (06.11.14)
It was Bush that destroyed Iraq. Saddam was no threat to anyone after the 1991 Desert Storm beat down. His military was boxed in and he couldn't launch a kite without permission from the US Air force. Just imagine if Syria's Assad falls. That would be the biggest blow to Israel's security in decades. You will have Islamic extremist armed with very sophisticated "Russian' weapons threatening Israel. Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't. The best option for US, Israel is to let them fight to eternity without interference and let them weaken themselves. There are even calls for the US to arm Syrian rebels with MAN-PADS. That would be insane.
9. Bound & determined to truly ruin themselves
Cameron ,   USA   (06.12.14)
Always their own worst enemy. From evil tyrant to sliding into civil war and crazy bloodbath. As you will, fool Arabs.
10. sheik r & r, you speak folishly of Saddam
Cameron ,   USA   (06.12.14)
A true wild card & loose cannon of unlimited ambition and revenue that tyrant was. A direct & active threat he was sitting in the very heart of the world's energy supply. He was tempting fate time & again. Enough was enough. Bush saw him for the time bomb menace he was, threw his punk Baathist regime down, and arranged a Texas necktie for the ole boy.
11. fanatic jihadists could come out on top, but
Erin ,   USA   (06.12.14)
what'll they be standing on? ash. If you've ever stood on an ash heap, you'll testify it's unstable. It's not a place you want to be. The jihadists would be better off living in the countryside peacefully, because once everything is destroyed, they can't afford to rebuild it; and to govern it you have to rebuild it. Ack!! :( It's a trap, I tell you, it's a trap.
12. Do not worry, Ben Yishai!
Israeli 2   (06.12.14)
We have great Israeli weapons in the hands of Mossad. They are: 1. Uri Geller 2. Guy Bavli 3. Lior Suchard
13. opportunity
Zsolt ,   Wanganui,NZ   (06.12.14)
I don't think simply waiting for the Arabic nations around Israel to implode is a good strategy. I think this chaotic new development gives Israel unprecedented possibilities to initiate regional peace conference with the still standing nations and their leaders. At the moment there is something they could all agree on, they are all interested in establishing stability in the region, most of the countries are facing perpetual tensions, unrest due to very severe economical conditions. With a positive facilitation Israel could secure such agreements that could cement the nations security for the future much better than military might. In a global, interdependent world, especially in a region like the Middle-East initiating, building mutual connections, partnerships above inherent differences and hatred could yield enormous and almost "miraculous" benefits.
14. @1
Gabriel ,   Haifa   (06.12.14)
so arabs are animals? or what is your point here? where do you learn such language? the nazis also refered certain groups as animals...
15. Result of Obama's failed foreign policy!
Jew1 ,   Ashdod   (06.12.14)
16. the big loser is Netanyahu, not Obama
(06.12.14)
Apparently, there will be complete social disintegration in the Middle East, in large part thanks to Obama's policies. As it seems now, Iran will be forced to fight ISIS, and eventually Saudi Arabia and Jordan will disappear, dragging Egypt down with them. Since it is not clear what Obama wanted to achieve, it is hard to say that he failed. The one person who did fail is Netanyahu. It has been clear for some time that this would happen. Netanyahu should have been preparing Israel for a situation where Israel is bordered by heavily-armed battle-hardened legions of Sunni and Shi'ites who want nothing but glory and who agree on only one thing: Jews must die. Instead, Netanyahu has been futilely begging the world to stop Iran, and in exchange promoting Israeli surrender to PLO. Netanyahu should demote himself to Minister of Finance and let someone else be PM. The new PM needs to strengthen Israel's hold on Judea and Samaria, destroy PLO and find allies in the Middle East who will help against the coming attack.
17. #8 Saddam Killed 1-Million
Ovadiah ben Avraham ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (06.12.14)
He invaded Kuwait and then burned every oil well. He launched 39 SCUD missiles into Israel. If they had contained sarin Israel would have replied with nukes. Enough of blaming Bush. You WILL go to war again when Saudi oil is cut off, believe me. Bush was only looking ahead.
18. #16 Netanyahu is Correct
Ovadiah ben Avraham ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (06.12.14)
If you are so concerned about an approaching Muslim war against Israel, then you must agree with Netanyahu that Islamic nukes are the #1 issue, on which he has worked tirelessly and thanklessly. That includes failed state Pakistan and its 120 nuclear warheads now sinking under Taliban onslought.
19. #18 disagree
(06.12.14)
Iranians are not stupid, they want to be rich and they do not want to die. They don't plan to use nukes to attack Israel, they want nukes to seize Arab oil, and ensure the survival of Persia. You are right that Iran theoretically could give nukes to someone else, but if Israel still holds Judea and Samaria in the worst case a nuke attack will kill only 40000 Israelis, and then Iran would cease to exist. Now think a bit more, Pakistan already has nukes that might get to Jihad. The now-strengthened Jihad might be able to defeat Assad and seize his nerve gas stores to use against us. They will certainly overthrow Abdullah in Jordan and probably Saudi Arabia. Now think: tens or hundreds of thousands of Jihadis, endless supplies of advanced weapons from Syria, Iraq, Jordan maybe Libya and Saudi Arabia, sitting in Jordan, their only experience is warfare. What do you think they will do? Herd goats? Holding onto Judea and Samaria, Israel can easily defeat them although they may shoot some rockets at Jerusalem: there is no way they can climb from the Jordan Valley. Without Judea and Samaria, Israel cannot defend herself against the JIhadis.
20. Gabriel #14
Eaglebeak ,   Left Coast, USA   (06.13.14)
Nowhere in his post does Arne say Arab. The difference between what Arne said and what the Nazis said is that the Nazis were wrong.
21. Internal war between Sunni & shiites
albert snow ,   sweden   (06.12.14)
Keep all hands from that conflict. It´s a war between sunni and shiism. Let them fight against each other. It´ll make Iraq and Syria collapse and divided into smaller dysfunctional weak states. This will of course bring unrest to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey too. New kurdish, sunni and shiite states will emerge. Israel ought to support the moderate kurds. The west and Israel will gain. Saudi and Iran ´will see their influence limited in the region. They´ll have a great great headache from this instability. Good, very good!!!! Congratulation to HUMANITY!! Everything now happening is very good.
22. @Robert inAntwerp
Etienne Prinsloo ,   British Columbia CA   (06.15.14)
Thought provoking, yet scary in it's full implication. Your assessment is very logic, thanks for posting.
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