The Underrated Saudi Connection

[Jefferson23]

Cross-posted with TomDispatch.com

[This essay is excerpted from the first chapter of Patrick Cockburn’s new book, The Jihadis Return: ISIS and the New Sunni Uprising, with special thanks to his publisher, OR Books. The first section is a new introduction written for TomDispatch.]

There are extraordinary elements in the present U.S. policy in Iraq and Syria that are attracting surprisingly little attention. In Iraq, the U.S. is carrying out air strikes and sending in advisers and trainers to help beat back the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (better known as ISIS) on the Kurdish capital, Erbil. The U.S. would presumably do the same if ISIS surrounds or attacks Baghdad. But in Syria, Washington’s policy is the exact opposite: there the main opponent of ISIS is the Syrian government and the Syrian Kurds in their northern enclaves. Both are under attack from ISIS, which has taken about a third of the country, including most of its oil and gas production facilities.

But U.S., Western European, Saudi, and Arab Gulf policy is to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, which happens to be the policy of ISIS and other jihadis in Syria. If Assad goes, then ISIS will be the beneficiary, since it is either defeating or absorbing the rest of the Syrian armed opposition. There is a pretense in Washington and elsewhere that there exists a “moderate” Syrian opposition being helped by the U.S., Qatar, Turkey, and the Saudis. It is, however, weak and getting more so by the day. Soon the new caliphate may stretch from the Iranian border to the Mediterranean and the only force that can possibly stop this from happening is the Syrian army.

The reality of U.S. policy is to support the government of Iraq, but not Syria, against ISIS. But one reason that group has been able to grow so strong in Iraq is that it can draw on its resources and fighters in Syria. Not everything that went wrong in Iraq was the fault of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, as has now become the political and media consensus in the West. Iraqi politicians have been telling me for the last two years that foreign backing for the Sunni revolt in Syria would inevitably destabilize their country as well. This has now happened.

in full: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-cockburn/war-on-terror-failed_b_5697475.html

[get the red out]

1. I hate this

Terrible.

[Jefferson23]

2. Agreed, it's pretty damn bad. n/t

[CJCRANE]

3. The Blame Game.

The blue team blames Bush for invading and messing everything up.
The red team blames Obama for leaving too early and not staying around to hold their hands.
So they both blame Al Maliki for not fixing everything.

However, it was the bipartisan team that voted for the initial invasion and that supported the rebels in Syria.

[mazzarro]

4. BINGO! - n/t

[KoKo]

5. Recommend!

[Jefferson23]

6. West poised to join forces with President Assad in face of Islamic State

August 22, 2014

Islamist forces are fighting their way into western Syria from bases further east, bringing forward the prospect of US military intervention to stop their advance. If Isis, which styles itself Islamic State, threatens to take all or part of Aleppo, establishing complete dominance over the anti-government rebels, the US may be compelled to act publicly or secretly in concert with President Bashar al-Assad, whom it has been trying to displace.

The US has already covertly assisted the Assad government by passing on intelligence about the exact location of jihadi leaders through the BND, the German intelligence service, a source has told The Independent. This may explain why Syrian aircraft and artillery have been able on occasion to target accurately rebel commanders and headquarters.

Syrian army troops are engaged in a fierce battle to hold Tabqa airbase in Raqqa province, the fall of which would open the way to Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/west-poised-to-join-forces-with-president-assad-in-face-of-islamic-state-9686666.html

[Jefferson23]

7. Report: 1,500 Iranian troops cross into Iraq to fight Islamic State

8/23/2014

Reports from Al Jazeera news agency indicated Friday that some 1,500 Iranian soldiers had crossed the border into Iraq to join the fight against the Islamic State which has captured large swaths of territory in Iraq and has nearly reached the Iranian border as they threaten the atonymous Kurdish region of the country.


According to the report, Iranian forces moved to attack the town of Jalawla, but decided to delay a planned offensive and pulled back some way toward the border.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4562458,00.html