Invite
The World To Fight ISIS But Help It Militarily
Saeed Naqvi
West
Asia becomes more mysterious by the minute. Who is fighting whom on whose behalf?
The lines were always blurred. Now they are more so. Iraq’s army has just shot
down two British planes as they were carrying weapons to the ISIS in Al Anbar
province. How do we know this to be true? The Iraqi Parliament’s National
Security and Defence Committee have photos of the planes that have been shot
down.
So,
on whose side is Britain? It should be clear now that the key Western ally
against ISIS has actually been caught delivering arms to the hated enemy.
In
recent months, if you called up contacts in Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala you
received the same response: the Americans are not here to help the government
in Baghdad. They have their own agenda.
An
amusing sketch doing the rounds on the social network shows Uncle Sam seated
inside an ornate carriage. An Arab, looking rather like the late King Abdullah
of Saudi Arabia, is in the driver’s seat, keeping a firm grip on four reins
strapped not to horses but to four burly, hooded ISIS militants. According to
this perception, the ISIS is a Western, Saudi asset.
Head
of the Iraqi Parliament’s Defence Committee, Hakim al-Zamili, said reports are
received in Baghdad regularly that US-led coalition planes airdrop weapons for
ISIS.
If
this is the state of affairs, why doesn’t Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi blow
the whistle on American double dealing? Because the earlier Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki defied the US on issues, he was forced to resign. The new Prime
Minister, being a creature of the US in Baghdad, is therefore least likely to
stand up.
Whatever
sense of security there is in the Shia south of Iraq derives from a widespread
belief that Iran stands with the people. And now that Washington is inching
towards a nuclear agreement with Iran, how does one square rapprochement with
Teheran and carrot and stick policy with Teheran’s allies in Iraq? Hakim al-Zamili
has an easy explanation. “The US does not want the ISIS problem to end around
the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.” In other words the US will keep its
fingers on all possible levers of power around Iran. Signing of a nuclear deal
with Iran does not spell an end to politics with the Ayatullahs.
Meanwhile,
it is also a truth, regionally acknowledged that the real battle to ISIS on the
ground is being given by Iran, Hezbollah and the Syrian army.
If
the leadership in Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala is cross with Western double speak
it may draw some comfort from the fact that even close allies like Jordan and
Egypt are on sixes and sevens anticipating the West’s next moves.
Last
week the Pentagon made public something Jordan wished to keep secret. Jordan
fears internal upsurge for being seen to be a US ally on most regional issues.
An important Jordanian training site for anti ISIS operations, the first to be
up and running was supposed to be secret until the Pentagon blew the lid few
know why. Sites in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar will be online later. But is
this line up itself not something of a puzzle?
Turkey
under the leadership of Tayyip Erdogan has emerged as a bastion for Muslim
Brotherhood. Qatar too is under the Brothers’ sway. But Saudi Arabia, atleast
while King Abdullah was alive, was fiercely opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Political
Islam, which is what the Brotherhood represents, was anathema to the extremist,
monarchist Wahabi theocracy. Clearly, policy under King Salman is undergoing
some change.
Remember
when Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ousted Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood,
the loudest cheer came from Riyadh, along with $12 billion. King Abdullah was
not going to allow Egypt, the most powerful Arab country, to go the Muslim
Brotherhood way.
Has
Riyadh dramatically changed its approach to the Brothers? One will have
occasion to revisit this theme, but its lineup with Jordan, Qatar, Turkey to
train combat troops against the ISIS does indicate a shift.
It
is just possible that the new regime in Riyadh has been sold a lemon – or a
great idea. The ISIS consists of three broad strands: Muslim Brotherhood as the
dominant group, Takfiri Salafi group, the ones who are destroying ancient
heritage and the old Baath Party elements reappearing as angry Sunnis.
Anti
ISIS troops are being trained in centers not averse to the Brothers. Surely
this will help neutralize the Brotherhood component in the ISIS. But for this
logic to prevail, the biggest enemy of the Brotherhood in the region, Abdel
Fattah el-Sisi has to be managed.
Who
knows, he may well have provided the opportunity to the US for his own dethronement.
The manner in which the Egyptian spread out the red carpet to Vladimir Putin
two weeks ago cannot have pleased Washington and its cohorts in the present
phase of US-Russia rivalry. An opportunity has been provided for Sisi to hurtle
headlong into the Libyan chaos. In Cairo, the restive Muslim Brotherhood may
well have its focus trained on a comeback.
Meanwhile,
do the Brothers or others of their ilk, have a potential in Afghanistan,
Pakistan anywhere? The Americans may be looking.
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