America ‘could be hit by major ISIS terror attack forcing Donald Trump to invade the Middle East’, top security expert claims
A DEADLY ISIS attack on American soil is likely to occur and could prompt a massive new US invasion of the Middle East, a leading security expert says.
The invasion would be forced by Donald Trump's hardline promises on jihadism and a public appetite for revenge, it is claimed.
Olivier Guitta, a security consultant who has worked with the Home Office, EU and NATO, told The Sun Online Trump would likely continue Obama's reliance on drone strikes.
However, he warned that if Trump was serious about taking on ISIS this could require a "huge" ramp up of military in the region - a minimum of 50,000 additional troops.
But he also faced a headache fulfilling an election pledge to use Russia to help fight ISIS and also taking a tough stance with Russia's ally Iran.
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Mr Guitta said: "He's going to knock his head on those two problems - one, Russia, and the other, Iran.
"So basically he will have to make a stand. Either he will have to go deep with the Kurds or make a massive engagement with troops.
"That will change if there's a major attack in the US. If there's an ISIS attack in the US I would seriously lean towards another major ramp up of troops in Iraq and Syria.
"Unfortunately I think the US will likely be hit with a major attack, and that will change everything."
This could involve anything on a similar scale to that seen in Paris in November 2015, Mr Guitta warned.
"It would be warranting the American public going after revenge. Hence a major involvement in the Middle East."
This week Trump has taken an increasingly adversarial stance with Iran after warning its leaders they were 'on notice' over a recent missile test.
Iranian leaders hit back, stating they were "unmoved by threats as we derive security from our people. We’ll never initiate war, but we can only rely on our own means of defence".
"We will never use our weapons against anyone, except in self-defence. Let us see if any of those who complain can make the same statement."
Mr Guitta added: "The big question is what is he going to do towards Russia and Assad because he has said he will cooperate with them in the fight against ISIS.
"Obama's line was Iran, Iran, Iran. Under Obama, the US worked directly on the ground in Iraq with (Iranian-backed) Shia militias. Now Trump will obviously have a major issue dealing with that stuff.
"Is he going to use Russia and Assad forces to go after ISIS, knowing that they are not doing that at all and they are playing a very crooked game?
"Assad has a very vested interest for ISIS to be powerful. He needs ISIS around. Trump will have to make a decision quickly because he can say: 'I will cooperate with Russia and Assad, we will go after ISIS', but they are not on [his] side.
"What is he going to do about the Kurds? They are the only ones serious about taking on ISIS and losing lives in that process and making inroads military.
"There have been rumours that the Trump administration will with-hold support to the Kurds. If that were to happen that would be a disaster."
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