In what amounts to nothing less than a strategic disaster assisted by Obama's withdrawal from Iraq, thousands of Iraqis fled Mosul yesterday as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) forces took control of the city. Many of the fleeing Iraqis ended up fleeing across the Tigris river to escape the terror group deemed too extreme even for al-Qaida.

As aptly noted in the WSJ today, so much for al Qaeda being on a path to defeat, as President Obama used to be fond of boasting:

[...] On Tuesday fighters for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, an al Qaeda affiliate known as ISIS, seized total control of the northern city of Mosul -- with nearly two million people -- after four days of fighting. Thousands of civilians have fled for their lives, including the governor of Nineveh province, who spoke of the "massive collapse" of the Iraqi army. This could also describe the state of U.S. policy in Iraq.

bama likes to describe everything he inherited from his predecessor as a "mess," it's worth remembering that when President Bush left office Iraq was largely at peace. Civilian casualties fell from an estimated 31,400 in 2006 to 4,700 in 2009. U.S. military casualties were negligible. Then CIA Director Michael Hayden said, with good reason, that "al Qaeda is on the verge of a strategic defeat in Iraq."

Fast forward through five years of the Administration's indifference, and Iraq is close to exceeding the kind of chaos that engulfed it before the U.S. surge. The city of Fallujah, taken from insurgents by the Marines at a cost of 95 dead and nearly 600 wounded in November 2004, fell again to al Qaeda in January. The Iraqi government has not been able to reclaim the entire city -- just 40 miles from Baghdad. More than 1,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in May alone, according to the Iraq Body Count web site.More here.

As the above referenced WSJ article goes on to point out, all this should serve as a warning to what we can expect in Afghanistan as the Administration replays its Iraq strategy of full withdrawal after 2016. It should also serve as a reminder of the magnitude of the strategic blunder of leaving no U.S. forces in Iraq after the country finally had a chance to serve as a new anchor of stability and U.S. influence in the region. An Iraqi army properly aided by U.S. air power would not have collapsed as it did in Mosul. In withdrawing from Iraq in toto, Mr. Obama put his desire to have a talking point for his re-election campaign above America's strategic interests. Now we and the world are facing this reality: A civil war in Iraq and the birth of a terrorist haven that has the confidence, and is fast acquiring the means, to raise a banner for a new generation of jihadists, both in Iraq and beyond.

And what is the White House's response to the fall of Mosul and the chaos in Iraq? They offer their condolances!

Meanwhile, ISIS seized the city of Tikrit, their second major gain after capturing Mosul on Tuesday ... and are pushing toward Baghdad.

Related video: ISIS promises more fighting in more Iraqi cities:

Related reading: Obama's #epicfail: Mass beheadings reported in Iraq as al-Qaeda forces take Mosul and Tikrit (Apparently, these Muslim groups in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Egypt, Israel, Russia, Thailand, Burma, Lebanon, China, UK, and across the world haven't seen CAIR's bus ads! And al Qaeda didn't get Obama's talking points. They are on the run. They are vanquished! If Obama says it, it is so. Isn't that right? Tell that to the headless. That fact is that they are coming for us. it's only a matter of time. Obama can lie, obfuscate and dance as fast as he can. But he has disarmed this nation. The foreign agent in the White House is mulling moving American bases located across Europe and the Pacific (that are still there in order to secure the victory of World War II) not to combat the gravest threat to freedom -- the global jihad -- but to fight -- 'climate change'. Any gains made by previous pro-American administrations have been destroyed and dismantled by the islamophile in the White House.)