Former French Prime Minister Dominique De Villepin has said that he holds Western foreign policy responsible for the multiplication of terrorism hotspots around the world. He added that he regards ISIS as the “deformed child” of this policy, which he described as arrogant and erratic. Speaking to France’s BFM TV, De Villepin said that the decision by US President Barack Obama to form an international alliance to fight ISIS was ludicrous and dangerous.
“It is about time that Europe and the United States learned from the experience of the war on Afghanistan,” said the French politician. “In 2001, we had one central terrorism spot. Now, after engaging in military operations for the past 13 years in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Mali, we have ended up with about 15 terrorism spots because of our contradictory policies.”
The “reckless” war on Iraq in 2003 provided help and support to the regime of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, who used the “sectarian game between the Sunnis and the Shi’ites,” said De Villepin, as he warned against the rapid increase in ISIS capabilities. “The number within the organisation several months ago was a few thousands whereas today it is estimated to be between 20 and 30,000. This increase is the product of our own inconsistencies.”
He also warned against waging a war in a region that suffers from terrorism and is witnessing “identity crises”. He said that doing so amounts to pouring fuel on the fire. “Through this war we are risk uniting many terrorist groups against us. In this we would be providing them with a service they never anticipated.”
Within the context of his criticism of Western policies that are based on opening new war fronts, De Villepin said: “The West will wage war on the Caliphate [declared by ISIS] in Iraq and Syria. Today and tomorrow we shall begin other terrorism spots and we will have to fight another war against the Caliphate in Libya.”
Every war the West wages, he claimed, will have to be followed by another one to remedy its failure and incompetence in responding to terrorist threats.
De Villepin made his comments in the wake of the terrorist attacks in France, in which a total of 17 people were killed this week
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