A photograph seen on social media of fighters from the misnamed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) could have come straight out of an historical documentary on the Middle Ages. If some seer had told me five years ago that 10,000-15,000 deranged killers could have established a caliphate over 30 percent of Syria and 35 percent of Iraq, he wouldn’t have had his palm touched with my gold. But at a time when crazed killers, who slaughter thousands without blinking are mushrooming, the fact that ISIL exists is less astonishing than the fact those murderers have been permitted a virtual free hand to behead, crucify and threaten Iraqi minorities with ‘death by the sword’ if they refuse to convert to their twisted brand of religion that has nothing to do with Islam.
It’s only been a few days since US President Barack Obama grudgingly decided to intervene militarily, ostensibly to protect a few hundred US personnel stationed in the Kurdish city of Erbil, who could have been evacuated, and also to thwart the genocide of thousands of Yazidis who sought sanctuary on the arid Shinjar Mountain after they were ordered to ‘convert or die’ only to find themselves stranded without food or water. At least 40 elderly people and children have died of starvation and thirst, prompting some mothers to throw their children off the mountain to save them from a similar fate or falling into terrorist hands. Are we really in the 21st century!!
US airstrikes have targeted ISIL convoys and artillery close to Kurdish territory and, of course, every little action helps, but Obama has made it clear that there will be no all-out campaign to eradicate ISIL unless and until the Iraqi government forms an inclusive government. Cynical commentators have concluded that this intervention is not so much humanitarian but rather focused on protecting America’s client state that supplies oil to Israel.
It’s beyond belief that the Iraqi Army isn’t up to task and even more astonishing that even battle hardened Kurdish peshmerga forces are fleeing from those ominous black flags, leaving vulnerable populations to fend for themselves. Sure, the Al Maliki government must bear the bulk of blame for Iraq’s unbridgeable sectarianism. Sunnis were ejected from the army and the police force when the Americans withdrew and Sunni ministers and parliamentarians were edged out. A political solution is crucial to bring Sunnis back on board, but why isn’t the status quo being treated as an emergency?
Eradicating ISIL should not hang on the willingness of Al Maliki and his Shiite cronies to embrace US demands because the group is threatening the entire region and is making good on its threats unimpeded. ISIL fighters are on the borders with Jordan and Saudi Arabia and just last week took over the Lebanese town of Arsal bordering Syria. They’ve withdrawn for the time being following negotiations but there is no guarantee they won’t be back in strength. Limited US strikes will only serve to enhance ISIL’s recruitment opportunities with those still smarting from the 2003 invasion which destroyed the relatively harmonious sectarian balance there forever.
ISIL is currently crowing via disseminated videos that it aims to plant its black standard on the roof of the White House. In fact, similar jihadist flags were seen recently flying over a council housing estate, near London’s Canary Wharf. Lest we forget over a thousand Americans and Europeans have joined with ISIL and there are real concerns in Western capitals about the day they decide to return home.
Getting involved
When the Pentagon pulled out the stops to get a bearded cave dweller in the mountains of Tora Bora, a guest of the Taliban, to the extent of an all out invasion and occupation, why isn’t the US president displaying true grit when it comes to a bloodthirsty group, led by Iraqi national Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, bent on creating a caliphate stretching from Israel to eastern Iraq and that poses a threat to the West in the long run? It’s true that the American people have no appetite to see their country involved in yet another Middle East conflict that drains blood and treasure with no worthwhile outcome, but pandering to public opinion isn’t something the so-called leader of the free world should be doing under these dangerous circumstances. There is no excuse for Obama gingerly putting his toes in the bloodied waters when the US has military bases and warships just a stone’s throw away from northern Iraq. Is he trying to punish Al Maliki for refusing to sign up to a US Status of Forces Agreement permitting a contingent of US troops to remain in country? If so, that’s reprehensible.
That said there is one question that remains unanswered. Where are the Arab armies, in particular those who have spent billions purchasing sophisticated American tanks, F16s, Apache helicopters and drones? Are those just to show off at parades?
ISIL, which claims control of the Mosul dam, which if bombed could result in a 20-metre high wave capable of consuming the lives half a million people, must be destroyed before it expands its territorial tentacles, its military hardware and its assets until the day it becomes indestructible.
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.
Linda, you seem to think that violence can prevent violence. I think you’d better hold your mouth.