generalspeaking

The Predictability of It All

"David [British aid worker David Haines] has been murdered in the most callous and brutal way imaginable by an organization which is the embodiment of evil."
"We will hunt down those responsible and bring them to justice no matter how long it takes."
British Prime Minister David Cameron

"We need aerial support from our allies."
"The French president promised me today that France will participate in this effort, hitting the positions of the terrorists in Iraq."
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (2nd R) 
Yes, there it is again: the Middle East on the one hand excoriating the West for interfering in its internal affairs, in the process persecuting and oppressing Muslims geared toward hatred of the West at any time, but accelerated through the process of responding to requests for aid. The United States thought it was shut of Iraq when it withdrew its troops after a decade of 'occupation'. Iraq refused to sign a Status of Forces Agreement to excuse American servicemen from Iraqi law.

While Iraq was still willing to have some American troops remain behind, even while it chafed at the wholesale presence of American military, it was not prepared to sign such a SOFA. The importance of excluding Western personnel from Iraqi law is clear enough when one considers that Islamic law imposes draconian punishment like stoning, lashing or beheading to reward those who offend their laws. Which may explain in part why Western countries are loathe to commit their troops to helping shelter them from their Islamist jihadis.

But doesn't go very far in explaining just why it is that Arab/Muslim states cannot gather the fortitude and determination to embark on a collective force of might in reflection of their military provisioned with the most impressive high-tech instruments of war that oil money can fund, yet they remain shy of doing that, calling instead upon the world's sheriff to gather around him a posse of the 'willing' to once again embark on a mission to save Islamic countries from their fearsome hordes of jihadis.

President Hollande of France, like Prime Minister Cameron, wasted little time in signing on to the American plan to respond to the Islamic State's outrages against human decency. But then, President Hollande also wanted to invite the Islamic Republic of Iran to be present at the meeting and to have some input into the decision-making taking place in Saudi Arabia. Ten countries in total signed on to the newest 'coalition of the willing'.

Although Turkey's representative was there in body, he was not present in spirit. Turkey will not only not be involved in fighting against Sunni Islamic State which Turkey has in fact sheltered, and gone to the trouble of helping ISIS offload its oil on a market eager to pay for its excesses in human depravity, but it has refused as well to allow the United States which has an airbase within Turkey, to use Turkish airspace from which to launch air strikes against the Islamic State.

This longtime member of NATO which has equally long agitated for entrance to the European Union views Islamic State just as it does Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran; reasonable Islamic entities dedicated to further the prospects of future Islam. Turkey and President Erdogan view Islamic State as a genuine Islamic presence, and exhibit toward it none of the loathing they dedicate to Turkish Kurds long oppressed in Turkey.

President Erdogan's fears lie more in the prospect of Kurdish Turks taking undue inspiration from Iraqi Kurdistan, a sturdy, well-functioning autonomous region of a country rent apart by dysfunction, social and political, tribal and sectarian, setting Muslims at one another's throats, threatening the existence of minority groups, all of whom seek and are given haven in Kurdistan. Should Turkey's Kurdish population begin once again agitating for secession, the full wrath of Turkish power will descend.

Not, understandably enough, on the bloodthirsty savages taking the lives of thousands of innocent civilians, routing non-Muslims from a territory the Islamic State claims as their caliphate, and turning out the world's most ancient Christian communities from lands that were theirs by heritage right, but which violent threats and vicious force trumps easily.

Labels: Britain, Conflict, France, Intervention, Iraq, Islamic State, Islamism, NATO, Syria, Turkey, United States

posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, September 16, 2014