Richard Engel Quotes

ISIS filled the vacuum in Iraq and Syria created by a lack of effective governance.

There is a clear interest within ISIS to drag Israel into a war with them. If they do so, they will be able to paint Israel as having an alliance with the states fighting against them.

The deep problems that afflict the Middle East are not easy to fix, but they must be dealt with if we are not to see a son of ISIS, or even a grandson of ISIS, developing in the years to come.

Syria is attracting a lot more Westerners than the Iraq War ever did because it's the perfect Sunni jihad.

I've often said that the ISIS-Syria-Iraq mess is about as bad as it could be.

ISIS did not come down from the sky. They found the opportunity to grow, and the world allowed them to grow.

I have long argued that ISIS and Assad are not separate problems to be chosen between, but are action and reaction, cause and symptom, chicken and egg: impossible to untangle no matter how much we might like to.

President Bashar Assad's regime is in the unique position of being targeted both by Israel and supporters of al Qaeda.

The presence of jihadis in Syria should be no surprise.

I think it is absolutely correct to solve the problem of terrorism in Iraq and Syria and Libya.

Isis Remains! ISIS Expands!.

One of the greatest fears of the Arab world is a direct conflict between Israel and the Islamic State.

The fact is, the Middle East has been going crazy for 50, 60, 70 years. So it's not like, 'Oh, I need an ISIS joke.'

The Sunni militants that make up ISIS are not the underlying problem in Syria and Iraq, but rather they are a symptom of other deeper problems.

Syria is hosting the most dangerous terrorist organizations.

There's a reason ISIS exists, which is because we've invaded countries, and they hate the Western world. I'm not forgiving them; I'm just saying there's a reason.

When you project weakness throughout the world, and you have a failed foreign policy, this is what you get. And now we have chaos in the Middle East, have ISIS taking over Iraq, Syria, Northern Africa, Egypt.

If anything caused ISIS, it was the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Russia and Iran back Assad, but are they fighting Daesh? The answer is 'no.'

Anytime ISIS takes ground, it's a bad thing.

Da'esh and Assad are not separate problems.

Iran is not an enemy of ISIS; they have a lot to gain from the turmoil that ISIS creates.

I think that ISIS is a problem and it's really a symptom of a much greater problem.

There is nothing in common between al-Assad and ISIS, they fight against each other.

Fundamentalist governments and organizations endanger stability in the world.