While Washington and Moscow are bickering over who killed ISIS's number two man, their regional partners in Ankara and Riyadh are doing everything in their power to strengthen ISIS's hand in the region.
Just as the regime in Turkey is assisting ISIS in Syria in their
war against the Kurds, the regime in Saudi Arabia is assisting ISIS
in Yemen in their war against the Houthis and Shiites.
Recently, both regimes have become more brazen in their support for the terrorist group because the Houthi-led coalition and the Kurds have been winning, not only militarily but politically as well.
The Saudi and Turkish regimes are doubling down on their failed and undemocratic policies against their closest neighbours because they mistakenly believe, whether for strategic, sectarian or
racist reasons, that they pose a greater threat
to their long-term security than ISIS child beheaders.
Why they prefer ISIS terrorists, many of them foreign to the region, to rule in Syria and Yemen rather than the people who live there is a question that their Western allies have not bothered to ask.
The regimes of the U.S. and Israel are not asking this question because they know the answer isn't pleasant. So instead of doing what's right they are encouraging both Sunni powers to continue their foolish support for ISIS.
Washington and Tel Aviv have stood
behind the Saudi and Turkish invasions of Yemen and Syria to curb geopolitical developments that they view as more dangerous than ISIS, which are growing Russian and Iranian influence in the region.
Maybe
the U.S. feels bad for these misguided Sunni powers and overlooks their
war crimes against their neighbours because they think they owe them something.
By overthrowing Saddam's
regime in 2003 Washington inadvertently or purposely strengthened the Shiites
and the Kurds in the region. Both the Saudis and the Turks were pissed.
So, to calm their irrational anger and guide their hostility away from the West, Washington has placated them. And the results have been disastrous. The use of Sunni-backed
terrorism has not been a winning strategy.
But the strategy has not been a complete failure, either.
In the past few years Washington has utilized
ISIS to change Iraq's Shiite government, dismember Syria, both assist
and contain Kurdish ambitions, distract and degrade Hezbollah, draw Iran further into Sunni heartlands where
it is hated, and prevent nations such as Libya and Yemen from gaining security and independence.
The people who are fighting this monster from hell are either demonized as terrorists and tyrants, or stabbed in the back in critical moments.
Who,
then, will destroy ISIS? Russia does not have the will or credibility
to take on this cause. America and the West clearly do not have the interest.
Only a Sunni power can take on and defeat ISIS, but it is nowhere to be seen.
There is not a single responsible, smart, strong, and sane Sunni power in
the Middle East. Egypt is a big mess, while Saudi Arabia and
Turkey, who are suffering from racism and sectarianism, believe that
using ISIS is their best option at the moment.
Until the Sunnis get their act together the Middle East and surrounding regions will be one giant war zone for generations to come.
