The single most underreported story in the Middle East of the Obama years was Iraq.

Obama ran on opposition to the Iraq War and once he won, the media carefully avoided covering what he did in Iraq. That’s why the rise of ISIS caught so many by surprise. There was nothing surprising if you understood what was going on.

Iraq was a fake country assembled out of Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and the Kurds, along with various minorities.

The Shiite majority quickly came under Iranian influence. Bringing democracy meant that the Shiites dominated Iraq’s central government. As Obama pulled back, he continued to back the central government while ignoring the Kurds and the Sunni awakening allies. Iraq quickly split between rival militias with Baghdad under the control of Iran’s Shiite militias while the Sunnis flocked to ISIS and the Kurds tried to build their own country.

The rise of ISIS destroyed what was left of the old US system and put Iran in the driver’s seat. And Obama responded by doubling down on backing for Baghdad’s Iranian puppets.

The Trump administration’s warning to the Shiite terror militias has resulted in an attack on our embassy. The attack is a deliberate effort by Iran to recreate it’s greatest triumph complete with cries of Death to America. Might be time for us to realize that they mean it.