News Analysis: IS expansion result of U.S. invasion of Iraq: experts

The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq was a main reason for the expansion of the Islamic State (IS) militant group as well as the general chaotic situation in the Middle East region, said Egyptian political experts.

On Tuesday, the 24-nation, U.S.-led coalition against IS held a summit in Paris to see how to help Iraq to take on the militant group after the fall of strategic city of Ramadi and the IS alarming expansion in the region.

Talking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Iraqi Prime Minister Hailder al-Abadi lamented that Iraq is not getting enough support from the coalition, adding that the Islamic State's gains in his turmoil-stricken country showed a "failure" on the part of the whole world.

"The U.S. invasion of Iraq led to this result and IS expanded and controlled more land, causing regional chaos and making Iraq and other Arab states tremble," said Saeed al-Lawindi, political researcher and expert at Cairo-based Al-Ahram Center.

After more than 4,000 anti-IS airstrikes in less than one year, the expert sees it "illogical" that a Western-led coalition of big powers cannot defeat a small terrorist group, "as if this group is a big power itself."

During the meeting in the French capital city, French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius said that the coalition realizes that it faces "a long-term battle," while the Iraqi leader asked the world for support against the IS militants messing with his country.

"The United States sees IS as a scary tool for Arab states that would always refer to Uncle Sam for protection and purchase more U.S. weapons," Lawindi told Xinhua, expressing belief that the presence of IS is in favor of the West in general and the United States in particular.

"Rather, it would be also in favor of the United States to have conflicts between the Sunnis and the Shiites in the Middle East region," the expert added.

He cited that the United States hailed an initial deal with Iran regarding its nuclear activities as "historical," although it raised concerns of most Sunni states in the region and that the recent U.S.-Gulf summit in Camp David ended up with nothing but a U.S. weapon deal offer.

Nourhan al-Sheikh, political science professor at Cairo University, echoed Lawindi's opinion that the growing chaos in Middle East was initially started by the U.S. invasion of Iraq and later extended region-wide.

"I believe that the main reason for what is happening now in the Middle East is the U.S. occupation of Iraq, which opened the gates of hell for all the countries of the region," the professor told Xinhua.

She explained that it was the U.S. occupation of Iraq that stirred up and emphasized the sectarian dimension in the internal conflict, not only in Iraq, but it extended to all regional states.

"It fed the sectarian dimension and the conflict between Shiites and Sunnis and expanded it to the whole region, whether to Iraq neighboring or non-neighboring states like Yemen," Sheikh said.

According to the professor, "the only winner of the regional conflicts in the Middle East is the United States." She believes that the IS expansion and the regional turmoil serve its interests including the Arab coalition's strikes in Yemen, which served the United States in its negotiations with Iran over the latter's nuclear capabilities.

Like some other political analysts, professor Sheikh believes that the expansion of the Islamic State militants might extend beyond the Middle East region if not earnestly combated.

Despite month-long air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition, IS made more advances after taking the control of Ramadi, the capital city of Anbar province, and seized around a third of the ancient city of Palmyra at the end of May. Endit