Lukman Faily, Iraq’s Ambassador to the United States, warned that ISIS has created “thousands and thousands” of Bin Ladens while the West dithered on fighting the Islamist State in Iraq-Syria.
WTOP reported:
A top Iraqi diplomat is warning the West has been too slow to address the global crisis presented by the Islamic State, and may soon have to pay a heavy cost.
Lukman Faily, Iraq’s Ambassador to the U.S., told WTOP in an exclusive interview that while the west is intellectualizing ISIL — a phenomenon he likens to global warming — Iraq’s ancient heritage, its culture and the rest of the world’s security is being devoured by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s (ISIL, ISIS) violent ideology.
“We have over 30 car bombs a month. What type of society can put up with that,” he asked.
Faily suggested some influential people in the U.S. and beyond have not been willing to deal with the power “of the cancer that ISIS is.”
“You had one Bin Laden in Afghanistan, but now you will have thousands like Bin Laden (fighting) with ISIS all over the world. People say the homeland is not threatened and therefore this is not our problem. This is a regional problem. This is not helpful for the U.S. or Iraq moving forward,” Faily said.
Acknowledging Iraq is largely responsible for rise of ISIL, Faily said the proliferation of the group’s violent ideology is not an internal Iraqi problem.
“Granted, we have our own political, social and economic problems which in part led to this, I give you that. But the majority of the jihadists came over from Syria, while other countries allowed them to come over from Syria.”
“We are the frontlines, we need help and we are asking other countries is why would you let them (ISIL) have breathing space,” Faily said.
More than 40 countries have joined the fight against ISIL since July of 2014, including a U.S. led coalition comprised of many of Iraq’s regional neighbors, but there is concern the group is rapidly spreading beyond the region. Former Central Intelligence Agency director Michael V. Hayden told WTOP ISIL is a direct threat right now to the homeland.