HENRY KISSINGER, the former US secretary of state, has urged President Barack Obama to “launch an all-out attack” on the terrorist group Isis in Syria and Iraq, warning that Americans have become “bystanders” in the Middle East.

In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times, Kissinger said airstrikes should be of “limited duration as a punitive measure” and “not make any distinction between Syria and Iraq”. He said: “There can’t be any debate any more about fighting them [Isis].”

Kissinger, an influential force in US foreign policy for more than four decades, accused Obama of failing to appreciate that other countries yearned for American guidance in the Middle East and other crisis areas.

“We don’t have the power to impose our preference, but without us,