Commentary: U.S. should reflect upon its role as meddler in Middle East

The United States should reflect upon its wrongdoings as a meddler in the Middle East by way of military intervention, as it has not only destabilized the region, but also inflicted enormous pain and imposed a tremendous burden on European countries.

Five years have passed since the eruption of the Syrian crisis. Peace and security are still not in sight, and worse yet, tensions between Western countries led by the United States and Russia have escalated over the issue.

It is evident that the United States has knocked over a "domino" in the domestic conflict in other countries without preventing the follow-up clashes and crises, leading to the current chaotic situation that is hard to deal with for European countries.

Worse still, the troubled situation in the Middle East has given rise to the unceasing expansion of extremist forces such as the Islamic State (IS), a bane threatening not only the conflict-torn regions, but also regions far from the flames of war.

From Afghanistan to Libya, and from Syria to Gaza, the horrors brought about by the U.S. interference in the region, which was depicted in literature as a promised land flowing with milk and honey, are countless.

As extremist forces are taking root in Libya, a country that neighbors the European continent, the security situation in Europe is fraught with serious threats.

However, the United States, which has created this mess, has not come up with a solution to stabilize the region and put an end to the crisis. Instead, it remains relatively safe from either the terrorist activities or the refugee conundrum thanks to geographic distance.

Therefore, the United States should take responsibility for the mess in the Middle East and the wave of refugees flooding into the European continent.

However, the world is disappointed and astonished to find that the U.S. attitude toward accepting refugees is poor while European countries are endeavoring to make room for the large number of immigrants.

Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner and former senator, admitted Thursday that her greatest political "regret" lies in the "mistake" of "voting to give President Bush authority in Iraq," in an ironic contrast to her stand in the 2008 campaign when she defended her "Yes" vote for the Iraq war vehemently sought by the George W. Bush administration.

Philippe Moreau Defarges, a senior fellow at the French Institute of International Relations, said that Clinton's apology is more of a show for the upcoming presidential election this year.

Defarges said Clinton apologized because "today in the West, politicians have to apologize."

Perhaps it is high time for the United States to sincerely reflect upon its intervention policy in the Middle East and come up with solutions to fix the mess. Endi