The knockout of ISIS

The knockout of ISIS
The announcement of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to send troops within the U.S led alliance to fight ISIS is certainly not an ordinary message. 

It emphasizes the size of change which occurred to the policies of the two countries and their way of dealing with emerging challenges in the region.

It is merely driven out of the threats posed by the extremist organization but it is rather motivated by a feeling that the war on ISIS has turned into an international and regional battle whose results would create the future balance of powers in our region. 

It is not a duel between Putin and Al-Baghdadi. Nor it is between Qasim Suleimani and the Emirs of ISIS. It is much wider and more dangerous.

ISIS is an extremist organization. It is much more dangerous than Al-Qaeda. It poses an existential threat to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Libya. It also poses big threats to Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries. It is a poisonous bomb that threatens every country in the Islamic world. It destabilizes the relations between Sunnis and Shiites and the destiny of minorities. 

The nature of ISIS leaves no room to be contained or to coexist with. It is not possible to establish a ceasefire with it because its motto is either you behead me or I behead you. 

The battle is much bigger and important than forcing ISIS to withdraw from one town or city. It is more relevant to the future of the countries of the region. 

As for Putin, it was the golden chance which ISIS presented freely. While Obama’s inaction gave legitimacy to Russia’s intervention under the pretext of fighting terrorism Iran made use of the extreme organization to pass its nuclear deal since there is more dangerous threat than its nuclear program. 

However, there is a crucial and significant question that we can raise here. Who can end this extreme organization and dismantle its structure? It is hard to believe that Russia will be able to do the task irrespective of its continuous airstrikes in Syria. Nor Iran will be able to do that since the growing influence of Iran in Damascus and Baghdad was one of the reasons behind the creation of ISIS not to mention the suspicious relations between the vicious triangle Assad-Iran and ISIS. 

The knockout of ISIS will come from the very environment which the extremist organization has already occupied. It is the Sunni environment which is able to deprive ISIS from its attraction and military machine. The war on ISIS will not be on ground. It will include mosques and universities. Therefore, the Sunni world is the one which more capable of carrying such mission and the key player in defeating ISIS.          

Ghassan Sharbal in Al-Hayat

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