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Migrant Jihadis: ISIS freed from Raqqa, in search of endless battles

Migrant Jihadis: ISIS freed from Raqqa, in search of endless battles

Migrant Jihadis-ISIS freed from Raqqa, in search of endless battlesBy Saeed Naqvi,

The final shootout in the old Wild West movies has the camera dwell on the blaze engulfing the Sheriff’s office. The Sheriff leads the charge into the saloon where the bad men lounge around.

If this analogy is to be applied to the final blow up taking place in West Asia, particularly since the Russians entered Syria in 2015 to help fight “terrorist outfits” like Jabhat al Nusra, Al Qaeda, ISIS and so on, the script will have to be expanded on an epic scale, focused not on one saloon but on a series of them, serving clusters of homesteads. Kobane, Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Palmyra, Mosul, Raqqa, Kirkuk….

I can set the scene for the script having travelled to Homs, Hama, Daraa at the outset when US Ambassador Stephen Ford was promoting democracy, meeting insurgents. It was an open road show.

Americans had said at the very outset of their involvement in Syria that they would not have boots on the ground. The Russians had indicated no such squeamishness. In other words, Russians would have a ringside seat on Americans’ messy involvement with Nusra here or Al Qaeda there.

These gangs were instantly transformed into freedom fighters whenever there was need. Simply put, terrorists fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were freedom fighters, worthy of support in training with lethal weapons. But Assad fighting terrorists was foul: he was a thug, thwarting democracy. Heads I win; tails you loose. Of course, there must be excesses committed by Assad, like us in Kashmir, but the larger context dwarves these.

If you find my tone at a variance from what you have seen and read on Syria, do please watch Congressional hearings with Army Commanders managing the Syrian show. Not to be missed is the hapless Defence Secretary, Ashton Carter, admitting before a full press corps how a $500 million programme to train Syrians had to be abandoned because the trainees handed their weapons to Jabhat al Nusra and found safe passage to few know where.

The mad pursuit for a New Middle East, repeatedly thwarted, keeps resurfacing, hydra-like. The driving force behind the neo con dream has metastasized into all sorts of outlandish and frightful scenarios.

Has the strategic community forgotten founder of Blackwater, Eric Prince’s idea of “governing” Afghanistan exactly as the British governed India in early 20th century – under a “Viceroy”? Yes, the written proposal was under active consideration of the President of the US last summer, with his adviser Steve Bannon grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of Afghan raw materials funnelled suitably into Trump’s “America first” receptacle. Read the Atlantic magazine on that theme. The deal was almost done.

Never mind if they were not allowed to reinvent the British empire in Afghanistan. The world’s biggest provider of mercenary fighting units controls other fiefdoms. They are part of the core group advising the Abu Dhabi ruler. Thanks to Blackwater, Latin American soldiers are fighting for the Saudis in Yemen. How will countries like Colombia utilize their citizens trained and tested in combat when they return home? Bogota may not have the money to afford Blackwater, but surely Trump may find battle-ready Colombians useful against a country on his hit-list: Venezuela.

The most sinister part of the post 9/11 wars inaugurated by the US in West Asia is their endlessness. This has become so, particularly after the Afghan and Iraqi experience. The US learnt at great cost that troops in both theatres were inextricably bogged down in the quicksand. Wisdom dawned. Air power, missiles, drones would provide cover, if needed, to “indigenous” foot soldiers, armed to the teeth with fierce Jihadism and financed, well, by Saudi Arabia. Qatar, Turkey, the Emirates have all had their hand in this till.

In its first, experimental stage this Jihadism was able to push back Soviet power from Afghanistan in 1989. The carelessness with which the US turned its back on this high voltage takfirism was stunning. US strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski’s terse comment was typical: “We were focused on bringing down the Soviet Union; we were not worried about some stirred up Muslims.”

These “stirred up” Muslims boomeranged in Kashmir, Cairo, Algiers. Post 9/11 wars, with Jihadist foot soldiers, has left a rich crop of Jihadists in platoon and company strength.

Robert Fisk, authoritative journalist on West Asia, has a telling piece in The Independent: “ISIS has lost Raqqa – so where will its fighters head to next?” The Syrian Democratic Forces, mostly Kurdish, backed by the Americans, were supposed to be fighting the IS.

What has actually happened is mind boggling. US air power has flattened Raqqa on the scale of Dresden in World War II. But by Fisk’s testimony, 275 IS fighters have been freed to go where they like. Deir ez-Zzor is one destination. But they can be relocated far afield to unsettle any targeted society with a Muslim minority.

The Moscow initiative on Afghanistan had anticipated some of this. When China, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and eventually even India and several Central Asian countries met in Moscow last April, the main item on the agenda was that Taliban, being an Afghan National entity, should be incorporated in Kabul’s power structure. The move would isolate the IS, Al Qaeda and their affiliates and thus prevent them from unsettling countries in the region.

The Moscow initiative came after Trump’s announcement: he would drastically scale down in Afghanistan. But, true to form, Trump changed his mind. He is now embarked on an open ended involvement in Afghanistan – with all accompanying dangers. In the name of fighting the IS, Afghanistan may end up becoming a hatchery for multiples of IS and Al Qaedas. The Mujahideen will have come full circle.

Has Islamic militancy increased since the global war on terror was launched? An honest answer will place this piece in perspective.

(A senior commentator on political and diplomatic affairs, Saeed Naqvi can be reached on saeednaqvi@hotmail.com. The views expressed are personal.)

—IANS

Israel, Saudi ‘guiding’ Trump: Iran

Israel, Saudi ‘guiding’ Trump: Iran

IranTehran : US President Donald Trump’s recent anti-Iran speech was under the influence of lobbyists from Israel and Saudi Arabia, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said.

It was clear that the Zionist regime of Israel and some countries like Saudi Arabia have played a major role in writing Trump’s speech and guiding him, Larijani was quoted as saying on Sunday by Press TV, Xinhua reported.

Trump’s aggressive rhetoric was aimed to cause commotion and prevent international economic cooperation with Iran, he added.

On Friday, the US President refused to certify Iran’s international nuclear deal and accused Tehran of sponsoring terrorism, saying that he would deny Iran’s “all paths to a nuclear weapon”.

Accordingly, Saudi Arabia and Israel welcomed the new strategy towards Iran announced by Trump.

Iran has insisted that its nuclear energy programme is aimed at civilian purposes.

—IANS

Arab League welcomes Fatah-Hamas reconciliation deal

Arab League welcomes Fatah-Hamas reconciliation deal

ArabCairo : The Arab League (AL) has welcomed the reconciliation deal signed in Cairo between Palestinian rival groups Fatah and Hamas.

In a statement on Thursday, the AL congratulated the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian factions and the Palestinian people for reaching the agreement that would end a decade of political rift between the two mainstream Palestinian factions, Xinhua news agency reported.

The reconciliation is the main guarantee for achieving the Palestinian goals of freedom, independence, ending the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent state within the border of 1967, according to the statement.

Earlier on Thursday, the two groups agreed on a complete handover of Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to the consensus government led by Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah by December 1.

Signed after two-day Egyptian-brokered talks, the agreement is considered as a resumption of a frozen reconciliation deal reached in the same city in 2011.

—IANS

Pakistan attempts to restart Afghan peace process

Pakistan attempts to restart Afghan peace process

Afghanistan and PakistanIslamabad : Pakistan, in an attempt to resume a quadrilateral peace process that can help set an end to the Afghan war, has asked all the concerned group members to meet in Oman next week, the media reported on Tuesday.

Afghanistan, the US, China and Pakistan are members of the Quadrilateral Cooperation Group, reports Dawn news.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif told the Voice of America while he was on an official visit to Washington last week that Islamabad would play a leading role in this quadrilateral session, aimed at bringing the Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table.

The group first met in January 2016 and has had five sessions so far, the last was held in May 2016 in Murree town, Punjab province.

The process was plagued by problems from the beginning. First, the Taliban refused to join it unless given the same status as the Afghan government. When they were persuaded to attend, relations between Kabul and Islamabad strained, reports Dawn news.

The international community too welcomed the quadrilateral talks because all four countries are seen as crucial to ensuring the success of any peace talks on Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Foreign Minister acknowledged that Pakistan too was losing its influence on the Taliban.

“At least for our influence on Taliban today, there is mistrust,” Asif told the VOA, adding that he believes Russia “today has more influence on the Taliban than Pakistan does”.

Despite these concerns, all four members of this group want some peace in Afghanistan and are likely to participate in the Muscat meeting on October 16.

But instead of sending their senior officials, as they did to the last five meetings, they are likely to send mid-level officials to prepare for future talks.

—IANS

Afghan President has worst job on Earth: Ghani

Afghan President has worst job on Earth: Ghani

Mohammad Ashraf GhaniKabul : Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said that he has the “worst job on Earth” and did not deny that it had been a difficult three years since he took office in September 2014.

“This is the worst job on Earth,” the President said in an exclusive BBC interview.

“We were like 12-year-olds taking on the responsibility of a 30-year-old; but we really grew in the process. Now in terms of management and leadership things are really falling into place.

“Within four years, we think our security forces would be able to do the constitutional thing, which is the claim of legitimate monopoly of power.”

Regarding the NATO troops, the President said they will be pulled out “within four years”.

About 14,000 Nato troops remain in the country to “train, advise and assist Afghan forces. The aim is to strengthen them so they can take the battle to the Taliban”, Ghani said.

The Taliban, he said, had two strategic aims: to overthrow the government or to create two “political geographies”.

“It has failed miserably in both of these aims,” Ghani told the BBC.

“Taliban is the largest exporters of heroin to the world. Why is the world not focusing on heroin? Is this an ideological war or is this a drug war? This criminalisation of the economy needs to be addressed.”

“A peace agreement with the Taliban”, would be the ultimate aim, the President asserted.

“The whole aim of the strategy is to provide the ground for political solution and a political solution is a negotiated solution. It’s imperative that the people are given a chance to live their lives.”

—IANS