SUNRISE: Donald Trump is now accusing President Barack Obama of founding the militant Islamic State group that is wreaking havoc from the Middle East to European cities.

“In many respects, you know, they honour President Obama,” Trump said on Wednesday during a raucous campaign rally outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “He is the founder of ISIS.” He repeated the allegation three more times for emphasis. Trump also pointedly referred to the president by his full legal name: Barack Hussein Obama.

The Republican presidential nominee in the past has accused his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, of founding the militant group. Shifting the blame to Obama on Wednesday, he said “crooked Hillary Clinton” was actually the group’s co-founder.

As he works to keep his campaign message on track, Trump in recent days has sometimes tried to clarify controversial statements by arguing he was being misinterpreted. But given the opportunity on Thursday morning to walk his statement back, Trump did the opposite.

“He was the founder, absolutely the founder,” Trump said on CNBC. “In fact he gets the — in sports, they have awards. He gets the most valuable player award.” Trump has long blamed Obama and his former secretary of state — Clinton — for their Mideast policy. Republicans believe that the US decision to leave Iraq in 2011 created a power vacuum that allowed Al Qaeda in Iraq, a subsidiary of the larger terror group Al Qaeda, to morph into the 30,000-strong IS group that in 2014 seized a third of Syria and Iraq.

The US has led a coalition of a dozen Western and Arab countries in a sustained air strike campaign — backed by Iraqi ground forces — that have cut the group in half and cost it 45 per cent of its territory. Yet the group still inspires or backs terror attacks around the world. The White House declined to comment on Trump’s accusation.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2016