A terrorist state created by the Islamic extremist group ISIS is shaping up to be President Barack Obama's legacy, says retired Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters.
"We are seeing before our eyes the establishment of the world's first terrorist state, this caliphate state that's spanning much of Syria and Iraq under the Islamic State [of Iraq and Syria],'' Peters told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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"There have been obviously states before that sponsored terror, that condoned terror, that committed terrorist acts," Peters said Wednesday.
"But we've never before seen a top-to-bottom terrorist state, and that's shaping up to be President Obama's real legacy.''
Peters remains mystified as to the commander in chief's end game.
"At this point, playing amateur psychologist, [Obama's] presidency has failed so badly, and so comprehensively, that he is obsessed with keeping that campaign promise that he was going to end our wars and bring the troops home,'' he said.
"As a result, he wouldn't allow the military to try to rescue our people in Benghazi because he didn't want to be seen as militarizing the situation.
"[And] he's got [Secretary of State John] Kerry and others trying to persuade the Iraqis to stay together.''
That is not a possibility, said Peters, author of the bestselling Civil War novel,
"Hell or Richmond,'' published by Forge.
"It ain't going to happen. We're backing [Iraqi Prime Minister] Nouri al-Maliki, the corrupt, vicious Shia strongman in Baghdad, who's largely responsible for the collapse of western Iraq," Peters said.
"It's just nutty that Obama just doesn't want to do anything militarily because he wants to be able to claim that he kept his promise . . . and as a result, he is letting the world just burn.''
Peters is not optimistic about the latest Israeli crisis involving rocket attacks on key cities by the Gaza terrorist group Hamas.
"The scenario is always the same. Israel goes in . . . the world community gangs up on Israel and defends the terrorists, and Israel pulls back, and Hamas rebuilds or Hezbollah rebuilds,'' Peters said.
"Being anti-Israel is a new socially acceptable version of anti-Semitism. You're not allowed to say in public, 'oh I don't like Jews,' but you can say, 'Israel's despicable. Israel's a fascist state.' It's the same old stuff. It's the stuff Hitler was peddling in the 1920s and '30s.''
"The fundamental difference between Israel and its neighbors is that Israel wants to live in peace with its neighbors. Its neighbors want to destroy Israel. What is so hard to understand about that equation?''