Sponsors Of Brussels Killers
Suffer Crushing Defeat: Why Is West Silent?
The West, with the US always in the
vanguard, is wailing and screaming its heart out against the ISIS for the
terrible things it has done in Paris and Brussels, but is in stunned silence at
the recapture of Palmyra from Islamic State’s clutches by an alliance of the
Syrians, Hezbullah, Iran, all under Russian supervision.
Robert Fisk, that splendid chronicler of
West Asia, is at his biting best:
“The biggest military defeat that ISIS
has suffered in more than two years – the recapture of the Roman city of
Empress Zenobia, and we are silent. Yes, folks, the bad guys won, didn’t they?
Otherwise, we would all be celebrating, wouldn’t we?”
Murderers of Paris and Brussels have
suffered a crushing defeat. Why then is the West and its independent press so
glumly silent? Because victory was achieved by the Russian led coalition?
It is not generally recognized that
there is widespread suspicion in circles outside the western establishment
(this includes the media) that the West is not whole heartedly in the fight to
destroy the ISIS. To use a racing metaphor, the West pulls back its horses just
when the ISIS is about to be trampled.
I have seen this sport atleast since
August 2014 when President Obama blurted out the truth in an interview with
Thomas Friedman of the New York Times. Asked why he did not use air strikes
against the ISIS to halt their march towards Baghdad, Obama did not mince
words: “That would have taken the pressure off Nouri al Maliki.” Iraq’s
obstinate Shia Prime Minister was being blamed by Washington for the “anti Sunni”
policies which were being cited as one of the reasons for the rise of ISIS.
It is a convoluted argument that, by not
attacking the nascent ISIS, the US was allowing the Caliphate to gain
sufficient strength so that it could force Maliki to leave. This would pave the
way for the next Shia Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi handpicked by the US. In
other words, under certain circumstances the ISIS, like Mujahideen in an
earlier game, can be a western asset.
Terrible human dislocations and death in
Syria, the refugee crisis on an epic scale in Europe, caused Obama and Vladimir
Putin to agree to limit the damage. On May 12, 2015, an understanding was
reached between Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister, Sergei
Lavrov.
They agreed that a political solution
was the only way out of the Syrian impasse. Obviously, Kerry had to sell the
agreement to Riyadh, Ankara and Jerusalem by maintaining an ambiguity on
President Bashar al Assad’s future – he will go but “when” has to be decided.
Lavrov spoke a straightforward language: Assad would stay until all inclusive
elections by the Syrian people decide on their leader.
The important point is that the
Washington-Moscow understanding on Syria held despite Riyadh and Ankara
throwing a ginger fit. How else does one explain the presence of the Operations
Rooms in Baghdad to co ordinate military activity against ISIS. Russian command
of the Air Space over Syria would not have been possible without an
understanding between the Air Commands in the region.
The western media did yeoman service by
pulling a curtain over US embarrassments in Syria. To balance its attitude it
chose not to dwell Russian-Syrian victories. Secretary of Defence, Ashton
Carter had his face distinctly in the lower mould when US Special Forces were
caught with their pants down. Arms given to the so called “opposition” were
handed to militants. The “opposition” sought safe passage to few know where.
Russian and Syrian advances against the
ISIS surprised those who did much drum beating to fight the ISIS but somehow
minimized participation in real combat. Meanwhile the panic stricken Turkish
President, Tayyip Erdogan, by his excesses against the Kurds, pushed them into
the Russian embrace. Material and military assistance flowed to the Kurds giving
them muscle against Ankara which is reaping a terrible whirlwind in the form of
suicide bombings and terror strikes. The Turkish leader has charged off to
Washington, imploring Obama for something which has already been denied him
before: a no fly zone in Northern Syria to serve as a kind of paddock where
Syrian refugees can be parked.
Ofcourse, US think tanks have been
spending months in Lebanon to study if the power structure in Beirut can offer
a model for Syria to follow. They have also been spending time in Iraq: is
Iraq’s federal structure worth emulating? Meanwhile, the Geneva process is
stumbling along. Syria is promising a referendum on each issue, including
agreements reached at the Geneva dialogue.
All this activity notwithstanding, an end
to the Syrian crisis is not in sight. Stakeholders like Saudi Arabia, Ankara
and Jerusalem have their eyes set on the US elections. These and other regional
players will do whatever they can to allow the problem to linger until a new
President settles in the White House. Their approach does not take into account
the mounting sense of panic in Europe where each day’s delay to the Syrian
conflict means so many more migrants knocking at Europe’s door.
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