The hidden hand behind the Islamic State militants? Saddam Hussein’s.

In fighting ISIL have we lost sight of who the enemy is and what it's motives are? When the Iraqi Army was facing defeat, some of it's leadership and members of the Baathist party were able to escape the country. Later the remaining Iraqi Army was disbanded and they joined/followed their leaders. We see reflected in ISIL the same cruelty that Saddam's regime used to rule Iraq for three decades. Failing to act early against Iraqi leaders known to be forming their own groups and joining ISIL has allowed for their strength to increase as disaffected former Iraqi soldiers have joined them. We have been distracted by the extremism and religious component of ISIL from looking at ISIL as a military organization. Perhaps if we had acted sooner in stemming the tide of Iraqi Soldiers from joining ISIL the organization would not have grown as it has. Should we change how we are approaching combating ISIL to one of a more targeted engagement of it's leadership?

“A lot of people think of the Islamic State as a terrorist group, and it’s not useful,” Hassan said. “It is a terrorist group, but it is more than that. It is a homegrown Iraqi insurgency, and it is organic to Iraq.”