In a tent city under a highway overpass in Baghdad, refugees from Iraq\u2019s Sunni province of Anbar were unanimous about whom to blame for their misery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hold Americans responsible for destroying Anbar,\u201d\u009d said former policeman Wassem Khaled, whose home was taken over by Islamic State, or ISIS, after the Iraqi army fled from Anbar\u2019s provincial capital of Ramadi last month.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know that America is providing ISIS with weapons and food, and that it is because of American backing that they have become so strong,\u201d\u009d added Abbas Hashem, a 50-year-old who also escaped from Ramadi and now lives in the makeshift Baghdad camp that is only occasionally supplied with water.<\/p>\n
Such conspiracy theories about America\u2019s support for Islamic State are outlandish, no doubt. But they are so widespread that they now represent a political reality with real-world consequences\u201d\u201dmaking it harder for the U.S. and allies to cobble together Iraqi forces that could regain the country\u2019s Sunni heartland from Islamic State\u2019s murderous rule one day.<\/p>\n