ISIS has already begun its invasion of Egypt and Libya as Shoebat.com has reported. Its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is now calling for an invasion of Saudi Arabia. Yet, Turkey continues to do very little in the fight against ISIS.
The BBC reports:
In a 17-minute audio message, purportedly from its elusive leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the group sets its sights firmly on Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam and the world’s largest oil producer and exporter.
The speaker does not refer to it as Saudi Arabia, since this is a name derived from the ruling tribe, the al-Saud, whose authority IS does not accept.
Instead he calls it “the land of Haramayn”, the land of the two holy places, meaning Mecca and Medina.
Reaching out to IS’s growing number of Saudi followers, he sets out a target list for attack, starting with the Shia who make up a minority of Saudi nationals, living mostly in the oil-rich Eastern Province, and whom hardline Salafi radicals view as heretics.
So deep are the sectarian divisions opened up in the Middle East by the insurgency in Iraq that many Saudis view IS not as a marauding band of terrorists but as brave defenders of Sunni Islam against the encroaching forces of Iran and its Shia allies.
While ISIS is a threat to the Shia population in Saudi Arabia, both Turkey and Iran must see an opportunity to weaken the House of Saud through ISIS. In the case of Turkey, Erdogan’s lot is increasingly with the Muslim Brotherhood. Together, those two entities seek the return of the Ottoman Caliphate; the Brotherhood has eyed the removal of the Saudis for decades. If it believes ISIS can aid in that effort, so be it.
The Brotherhood’s formation in Cairo in the 1920’s included aspirations for 1.) the return of Turkey’s Caliphate and 2.) vengeance on the Saudis.
As such, allowing – or at least not doing much to stop – ISIS to excite domestic insurrections inside Saudi Arabia means ISIS provides utility to the Brotherhood, Turkey and even Iran, which has an enmity for the Saudis that has been at a fevered pitch for quite some time.
Last month, Barack Obama’s trusted foreign policy advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski expressed the flawed belief that Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt represent the four nations that must work together to defeat ISIS, with Turkey being the most important.
This is flawed because Turkey is in league with ISIS. As it stands now, ISIS serves a purpose for Turkey. It is helping to wreak havoc in Egypt; it is fighting Syria’s Bashar al-Assad; and it is now poised to do in Saudi Arabia what it’s doing in those countries.
In light of these more recent developments, perhaps the most shocking thing Brzezinski said in that video is:
“…it seems to me the last thing we want at this stage is to make the conflict with ISIS an American conflict against increasingly fanatical Islam. I notice today even in the paper, references to jihadists and so forth. We ought to lay off that kind of language. We’re dealing with criminals who are themselves threatening the world of Islam and therefore our allies are Islamic states.” – Zbigniew Brzezinski, October 10, 2014
What people like Brzezinski must understand but are choosing to ignore is that as currently constituted, two of the four nations he wants to see work together to fight ISIS actually have more interest in using ISIS for their own means.
When it comes to Turkey and Iran, they see ISIS as gladiators for their entertainment in countries like Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
As Shoebat.com reported earlier this month, Obama sent a letter of appeasement to Iran’s Ayatollah that allegedly had to do with asking for help in fighting ISIS. The Shia population in Saudi Arabia notwithstanding, an increased ISIS presence in that country provides even less incentive for Iran to act against the group, not more.
Besides, Turkey and Iran have been collaborating stealthily for some time now, as Shoebat.com has reported. Each nation respects the others’ power and each sees varying degrees of benefit from the removal of Bashar al-Assad.
Yes, Assad and Iran have been allies but… things change. Assad is increasingly weaker. His removal would leave Syria for Turkey and Iraq could then be annexed by Iran.
The removal of Assad would also serve to strengthen ISIS as long as that is something that Turkey wants and Iran is willing to let happen. Causing the House of Saud headaches very well could qualify.
One of the great ironies is that since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the Saudis have been among the biggest proponents of removing Assad. Much of that had to do with Iran’s support for Assad. Today, the removal of Assad would actually pose a greater threat to the Saudis, which provides Iran with additional incentive to let ISIS do its thing.
This week, it was learned that ISIS and al-Qaeda have decided to form an alliance to fight common enemies. Depending on how long this alliance holds, the Saudis may have additional problems to their south.
The BBC report explains:
Along with Qatar and Kuwait, the Saudi authorities are struggling to prevent donations from private individuals ending up with IS.
On top of this, security has deteriorated rapidly on the southern border with Yemen, where a number of Saudi extremists have joined al-Qaeda after being released from rehab programmes where they pledged to renounce violence.
Once again, all of this shows just how detrimental Turkey’s inclusion in NATO is. The U.S. is bound by the terms of the NATO alliance. No matter how evil Turkey is revealed to be, the U.S. is duty-bound to defend Turkey as long as it is a NATO partner.
What no one of consequence is willing to admit is that this particular NATO partner is in bed with ISIS and should be expelled from NATO immediately if not sooner.