The conditions that the people of Iraq and Syria face at present are disgusting. It is a despicable indictment of the governments of the west that such circumstances could have been allowed to develop, let alone continue, and worsen.

Yet it is important that we all understand and/or remember, that what is taking place across the Middle East today, be it in Mosul, Aleppo, Raqqa, Sanaa or anywhere else across a region that is in turmoil, has occurred, and is occurring, because of the invasion of Iraq by the US and its allies in the Iraq War of 2003.

The assault on the Iraq of Saddam Hussein was a specious ‘War on Terror’. It is accepted now that it was conducted to both finish the work of the initial Gulf War, and to achieve total control, via a proxy Iraqi government, of the natural resources of that Middle Eastern nation.

It was also motivated by the lies of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli PM, who misled the US House of Representatives in 2002 (see video below), with respect to Saddam Hussein’s capabilities. Note; Netanyahu has used the exact same arguments about the need to deal with present-day Iran.

To get a better understanding of events today in the beleaguered Iraqi city of Mosul, it is worth noting a few details about the lead protagonist in the current campaign of terror led by ISIS, who continue to occupy large parts of said city.

What follows is a Wikipedia entry for Abū Bakr al-Baghdadi (Arabic: أبو بكر البغدادي‎‎; born 28 July 1971 as Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badri). Abú Bakr is the current leader of ISIS.

The piece demonstrates that this future leader of the vile terror group that has wreaked havoc across the Middle East and Europe, was formerly a civilian internee of the US. Questions have been asked as to how much input US agencies had in establishing ISIS as a potent force that could be used to further destabilize the region, in particular Syria (an ally of both Iran and Russia).

US internment

Al-Baghdadi was arrested by US Forces-Iraq on 2 February 2004 near Fallujah and detained at the Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca detention centers under his name Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim al-Badry^[34]as a “civilian internee” until December 2004, when he was recommended for release by a Combined Review and Release Board.^{[37][43][44][45]} In December 2004, he was released as a “low level prisoner”.^[34]

A number of newspapers and cable news channels have instead stated that al-Baghdadi was interned from 2005 to 2009. These reports originate from an interview with the former commander of Camp Bucca, Colonel Kenneth King,^[46] and are not substantiated by Department of Defense records.^[47][48][49] Al-Baghdadi was imprisoned at Camp Bucca along with other future leaders of ISIL.^[50]

• It is apparent, that prior to his stay with the US forces, Al-Baghdadi was not considered a serious threat to either the US or Iraq. So it must be asked, how did someone quickly go from a position of relative unimportance, to one where he controls an entire army, funded by both the US and Saudi Regimes?

ISIS have been observed in Iraq and Syria with tonnes of US military equipment. Is it being supplied directly, indirectly via the Saudis, or has it been bought or stolen from the Iraqi forces?

Based on various reports, CNBC came up with the following laundry list of supplies the U.S. has so kindly provided to ISIS so far.

• 2,300 Humvee armored vehicles at $70,000 each: $16 million
• 40 M1A1 Abram tanks at $4.3 million each: $172 million
• 52 M198 Howitzer mobile gun systems at $527,337 each: $2.7 million
• 74,000 Army machine guns at $4,000 each: $29 million

TOTAL: $219.7 MILLION in military weapons, vehicles, and other supplies and gear for ISIS.

ISIS are also operating in Afghanistan. The photos below, which were published on social media, show an American portable rocket launcher, radio, grenades and other gear not commonly used by Afghan troops, which were captured from ISIS there.