It goes without saying that ISIS (the Islamic State In Syria) is beyond abhorrent. They are an evil group and represent the very worst of humanity. Their litany of crimes, which grows more gruesome by the day, reads as if the nightmares of the Middle Ages had come to life and had taken over large swarths of Syria and Iraq.
Unfortunately the fundamentalist ideology is based on 12th Century doctrine and they have proved to be a formidable armed force. They have not only captured Iraqi oil wells but they are also financing their slaughter by robbing banks, selling slaves and are recruiting through social media.
Because of this the world has finally decided to reign them in.
Last week President Obama announced that the US Military would commence operations to "degrade and ultimately destroy" ISIS. Fantastic. Who else is showing up? Well Poland, France, Australia, Britain, Germany, Netherlands and Canada.
Great group! Seriously! For these nations to commit troops, be they air or land, shows that they believe that ISIS is an organisation that has to be stopped at the stem before it can worm its way into the rest of the world. I wholeheartedly stand with these countries in their battle against these Islamic terrorists.
But they shouldn't be fighting this war.
This is not their war and they should not be sacrificing blood and treasure to reign in this disgusting group.
It's only in the last few hours that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, Qatar and Egypt have all signalled their support for a US led coalition against ISIS.
Except their support isn't really coming with troops or planes or any kind of legitimate help.
They're mainly there for moral support. They're the guys who stand on the sidelines and say "buck up, trooper". They're not actually going to get their hands dirty. They are providing intelligence and humanitarian relief for those who are suffering under the oppressive heel of ISIS.
That's bullshit.
Consider the fact that it was Qatar and Saudi Arabia who funded ISIS as a counter to Bashar al-Assad. Also consider that Saudi Arabia is the greatest exporter of Islamic fundamentalist terror as they have been spreading the Wahhabis wings throughout the world. Petro-dollars are helping fuel the very terror that the West is now committed to fighting.
Yet none of these countries, who are all major beneficiaries of US funded weapons (state of the art weapons), are committing even a machine gun? The Israelis have already said that if ISIS takes down the Jordanians they'd blow the living hell out of them. If the Arab nations weren't so pissy about siding with Israel then I'm sure that you would be seeing Star of David adorned jets flying over Iraq and Syria bombing ISIS positions right now.
But here's the thing.
The Arabs want to play themselves as the perpetual victim. They want to export this terror and then have the West come and help them when it bites them in the leg. THEN they want the West to take the blame for any Arab casualties that may occur. The Arab States not only have a role in fighting ISIS, they have the only role. They are the ones who should be forming a broad Arab coalition and killing ISIS. The West will gladly help them with intelligence, logistics and humanitarian missions but that's it.
IF (and that's a big if) the Arab armies find that they are not match for ISIS then absolutely the West should commit themselves militarily to fighting the extremist group.
I have never shied away from advocating interventionist policies if I believe that it is in the greater good of the human race. I do believe that ISIS MUST be stopped militarily. But the Arab nations have to finally come to the table and lead the charge.
Arabs, it's time to embrace your inner Saladin and start kicking ass.
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