Islamist fundamentalists gain tactical advantage

While different in many ways, the two most active Middle East conflicts, waged by the US in northern Iraq against the Islamic State, and by Israel against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, have strong common features:

 

Both stood idly by for years as Islamist fundamentalists, Al Qaeda’s IS in Iraq, and the Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip, systematically built up military force for bringing forward their aggressive designs.

 

The Obama administration shrugged when al Qaeda started forging ahead, first in Syria and then in Iraq.

Read More: Islamist fundamentalists gain tactical advantage over the US and Israel in Gaza and Irbil, 1,372 km apart.