US meddling in Syria bolstered Takfiris: Analyst

Interference of the US government and its allies in Syria has led to the strengthening of the Takfiri militants currently running amok in Iraq, an analyst tells Press TV.
“The United States and France and Britain and Qatar and Saudi Arabia through their intervention and support of the so-called rebels in Syria opened the way for the…[so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to] go into Iraq and occupy much of Iraq in connection with its allies in the area,” Richard Becker told Press TV in an interview.
The analyst said the meddlesome US policy has led to a “disaster” for people in Iraq and Syria, adding, “What the US policy and its allies’ policy has done to Syria, and I should also say to Libya and to Iraq, really constitutes a tragedy, a disaster and a crime against the peoples of those countries.”
He said no al-Qaeda offshoot was operating inside Iraq up to 2003, the year the US invaded the country to unearth weapons of mass destruction, which were never found.
“In 2003…there was no al-Qaeda functioning inside of Iraq and there was no al-Qaeda functioning…inside of Syria. So, now we’ve seen that develop in Iraq and in Syria,” Becker said.
The crisis in Iraq escalated after the ISIL militants took control of large swathes and key cities in the country last month. The ISIL has vowed to continue its raid towards Baghdad but has faced stiff resistance by the Iraqi and voluntary forces.
An estimated 1.2 million people have been displaced in Iraq so far this year, according to the United Nations.