Director MI6 Says We in the West Are to Blame for the Rise of Militant Islamism

Tom Whitehead and Ben Farmer

September 19, 2014

West to blame for rise of Islamic State, says UK spy chief

In rare public comments, the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service said the way the West responds to civil war in other countries created “real dilemmas” Photo: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

The chaos in Syria that opened the door to the terror group Isil was created because the West did not intervene in the civil war, the head of MI6 has suggested.

Sir John Sawers also gave the strongest signal yet that the UK and US must find a way to work with Iran to combat the troubles in neighbouring Iraq and Syria.

In rare public comments, the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service said the way the West responds to civil war in other countries created “real dilemmas”.

The advance of Isil in Iraq and Syria, which exploited the vacuums created by the conflicts, has raised questions over the previous stance of Western powers not to intervene directly.

France yesterday became the first Western power to join the US in air strikes against the terror group in Iraq.

French jets targeted a logistics depot in Tal Mus, between the city of Mosul and Zumar.

US aircraft have carried out more than 170 strikes since August 8 but President Barack Obama has been keen to build a broad international coalition.

Sir John told the Financial Times that the lesson of Afghanistan and Iraq was that a government can be toppled in months but it then takes years to rebuild the country.

He said: “If you decide not to [rebuild], as we did in Libya, partly because of the scars from Iraq, then you topple the government and you end up having nothing in its place.

"And if you don’t intervene at all, you end up with a situation like you have in Syria. These are real dilemmas."

The move by France has increased pressure on the UK to join in air strikes.

But Rory Stewart, chair of the Common’s defence committee, urged the Government not to rush into anything.

He said: “It raises the big question about air strikes. Are we doing them for diplomatic reasons, to remain friends with the US, or because they will make a difference to the situation on the ground?

"Unless you get a clear sense of what difference they make on the ground, we shouldn’t just be doing them because we are embarrassed that the French have started."

Sir John said there was also the possibility of reaching “some form of accommodation” with Iran, especially with the chaos in its neighbouring countries.

It appeared to be stronger language than David Cameron, the Prime Minister, who told the Sunday Telegraph in August that Britain might “perhaps even” work with Tehran as he urged a coalition of nations to tackle the growing threat.

Last week Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, said he hoped Iran would cooperate and “align itself broadly with the direction that the coalition is going”.

Sir John repeated his warning that the intelligence leaks by former CIA contractor Edward Snowden, published by the Guardian, had damaged the ability to tracked terrorists.

But he said that while the Snowden leaks had caused some people to question whether the spy agencies were on their side, he insisted there was still “overwhelming support for us”.