Middle East nations must be the ones to defeat ISIL

In this photo made from the footage taken from Russian Defense Ministry official website on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, a bomb explosion is seen in Syria. Pentagon officials urged the Russian military on Thursday to focus its airstrikes in Syria on Islamic State fighters rather than opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad, U.S. administration officials said. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Do you recall when jingoists renamed French fries and poured French wine down storm drains to protest France's intelligent decision to not support the Bush/Cheney administration invasion of Iraq?

The disastrous decision to topple the Iraq regime, which had no responsibility for the 9/11 attack, resulted in fracturing any semblance of stability in the entire region, resulting in the expansion of al-Qaida, which has morphed into the current terrorist organization: the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The Levant consists of Cypress, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Turkey. It is the responsibility of these states, including the militarily powerful Saudi-Arabia, to finally defeat ISIL.

While some may find some sweet revenge in the U.S., French and now Russia bombing ISIL strongholds, that will not solve the problem and may in fact exacerbate it. Regional states must block the source of income for ISIL, mainly the sale of oil and of captured artifacts. Follow the money!

Skip Hannon

Bradenton

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Middle East nations must be the ones to defeat ISIL ."

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