KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 22, 2014:

The controversial terrorist organisation, Islamic State (IS) is a creation of the United States, said former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In his blog posting today titled “The Islamic State” he lambasted the federal republic for not learning from its past mistakes by toppling democratically elected governments through “undemocratic overthrows”.
“Suddenly, out of the blue almost there appeared in the Middle East a powerful force seemingly moved by a desire to set up an Islamic state, a Caliphate no less,

“Where did they come from? Just like the Taliban they were created by the United States of America,”
Dr Mahathir then explained that the US had always wanted to replace Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s Shiite Government with a Sunni Government.

He said with Iraq and Iran under Shiite rule, a Shiite Government in Syria would tilt the balance in the Middle East in favour of the Shiite – the most violent enemy of the US.

He claimed that when attempts were made to overthrow Bashar’s government, the Americans found themselves a window of opportunity to install a Sunni government in Syria.

“To ensure this would be the result of the civil war in Syria, America provided military aid and money to the Sunni rebels in Syria to ensure their overthrow of Bashar,

“Many of the Sunni fighters were fanatically against the Shiite. They readily accepted United States aid and then decided to cross from Syria into Iraq to overthrow the Shiite Government there,” he said.
Warning that the US would find itself an implacable enemy should IS expand its territories, Dr Mahathir said the US should ally itself with Syria to fight off the terrorist group.

Bemoaning the fact that had the US not intervened earlier, the beheading of the two American journalists would never had happened.

“They tried to promote regime change in Arab countries and only succeeded in destabilising these countries,”
“Democracy ends with anti-American extreme Islamic governments being elected.”

Adding fuel to the fire, Dr Mahathir said the American people are “hopelessly ignorant” of the world outside their country and believed whatever their government does.
“Decades of United States support for Israel and anti-Islamic policies have made anti-American Islamic parties popular.”

He cautioned that anti-Americanism would be even more violent should the Islamists win, if elections are held following demoralisation.

“America has much to learn about foreign relations,” he added.