Iraq turmoil outcome of Syria crisis: Analyst

The US government is to blame for the ongoing offensive by Takfiri militants in Iraq, which is a spillover of the turmoil in neighboring Syria, an analyst tells Press TV.
“The United States should have tackled the crisis in Syria earlier… because it could have basically preempted its regional implications,” Nabil Mikhail told Press TV in an interview.
He said the administration of US President Barack Obama is “responsible” and that the unrest in Iraq is an “outcome of the crisis in Syria.”
Violence has been raging across Iraq, with bombings and shootings rattling the country.
On June 10, militants from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took control of Nineveh Province, including its capital Mosul, forcing over 500,000 people in and around the city to flee.
“The Syrian crisis now is becoming a regional crisis. Iraq could be another Syria,” Mikhail stated.
He added that the US government is expected to take action to “stop the insurgency in Iraq and to stop the insurgency in Syria.”
The analyst said the Syrian crisis may spill over into other countries in the region than Iraq if it is not halted.
“Iraq has to be unified, the civil war in Syria has to be stopped and you have to stop all the negative regional implications for the crisis in this part of the Middle East,” Mikhail said.
Takfiri groups are reportedly entering Iraq from Syria and Saudi Arabia to undermine security in the country.