Agriculture as the New Oil for ISIS: New Age Islam's Selection, 17 September 2016
New Age Islam Edit Bureau
17 September 2016
• Agriculture as the New Oil for ISIS
By Ehtesham Shahid
• The New Abu Muslim Al-Khurasani
By Mshari Al Thaydi
• Soldiers Replace Tourists In Aleppo
By Maher Al-Mounes
• Ceasefire Terms Pose Major Risks For Syrian Rebels
By Sharif Nashashibi
• South Africa Renews Efforts To Help Unite Hamas, Fatah
By Ahmad Melhem
• Assad Backers and The Logic Of The Playground In Syria
By Dr. Azeem Ibrahim
Compiled By New Age Islam Edit Bureau
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Agriculture as The New Oil For ISIS
By Ehtesham Shahid
16 September 2016
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) may be all things evil, but when it comes to finding sources of revenue it seems to have gone back to basics – agriculture. Even as the terror outfit continued to kill and maim over the years, we now know that it also kept an eye on crop yields.
Traditionally, ISIS would depend on oil, looting, ransom, foreign funds and taxation to fill its coffers. But, if a new report is to be believed, it has also relied on agriculture to survive and to keep its terror factory running. This has gone on in spite of the military conflict, large-scale displacement of farmers and supply chain disruptions.
The report, carried out by academic journal Food Policy, says recurrent taxation of agriculture is a crucial source of income for ISIS. This is understandable considering other income streams, such as oil and ransom, have shown signs of dwindling in recent times. Satellite evidence suggests that agricultural production has been sustained in ISIS-controlled regions in Syria and Iraq during the last two years.
The researchers – Hadi H. Jaafara and Eckart Woertz – estimate that in 2015 ISIS might have generated $56 million from wheat and barley taxation alone. Moreover, the total value of estimated 2.45 million tons of wheat in 2015 roughly equalled that of ISIS oil production during its peak in late 2014 and early 2015. Thankfully, this situation is not likely to continue for too long as supply chains have been disrupted and quality seeds and other agricultural input aren’t getting any better.
Even a dreaded terror group on the absolute fringe of the society realizes that agricultural production brings in a degree of resilience to the regime
The finding throws up several interesting facts and raises several questions. Iraq and Syria happened to be net-importers of wheat before conflict began in these countries. However, this is not the case with ISIS, at least as of now. The region under its control produces an exportable surplus probably because it has maintained production while the population has declined.
Since no one expects an organization such as ISIS to equally distribute food to all sections of the population hence it is difficult to imagine how the distribution system works. It is also unclear whether the organization is generating funds from actual agricultural output or just via tax collection.
Food For Thought
Several inferences can be drawn from the information this research provides. It shows that even a dreaded terror group on the absolute fringe of the society realizes that agricultural production brings in a degree of resilience to the regime. It is crucial for political legitimacy even when it is for a population that is under violent control.
The use of satellite imagery to derive critical conclusions also raises few questions. If a couple of researchers, without access to real data, can zero-in on a specific region and find empirical evidence related to agricultural output, why can’t governments, with enormous resources at their command, do the same for rural areas that continue to remain neglected.
Moreover, if a rank terror outfit, which only knows violence and cruelty, understands the significance of agriculture, shouldn’t the more “civilized” world do more to promote farming for food security and employment generation.
It’s a travesty of time that anyone with any doubt about the need to focus on agriculture has a new example set by the world’s most dreaded and detested organization.
Food insecurity has indeed been “a major driver of conflict in the Arab world” and hence deserves constant attention. Whether ISIS’s interest in agriculture is a product of these circumstances or a sign of things to come is anybody’s guess.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/09/16/DNP-Agriculture-as-the-new-oil-for-ISIS.html
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What's Next For France After The Burkini Madness?
By Yasser Louati
16 September 2016
The burkini hysteria of summer 2016 has once again turned France into the laughing stock of the Western, if not of the entire, world.
It took weeks of controversy and the seizing of the country's highest administrative authority - the Council of the State - to reaffirm the right for women to dress as they please in public space.
Last week, it turned out that former President Nicolas Sarkozy had himself orchestrated everything by pressuring mayors from his political party The Republicans to issue the ban.
As well as showing once again the irresponsible nature of the man, this revelation answers the question who benefits from the crime.
Humiliating A Weak Minority
Barely nine months before the 2017 presidential election in France, was Nicolas Sarkozy’s move intended to anchor debate in a clash of identities rather than a clash of concrete and ambitious projects for France.
Not surprisingly, he succeeded in setting the tone for the election without any resistance from his presidential rivals.
By following in the footsteps of Sarkozy, the right and even the left - as represented by Prime Minister Manuel Valls - have implicitly admitted that they agree on the failed neoliberal policies of Francois Hollande, and that there is no turning back from austerity nor going back to the welfare state.
It is admittedly inconceivable for such a trivial issue as a bathing suit worn by a few women to spark a national debate.
Over nine million French people live below the poverty line; yet economics, unemployment, staggering inequalities, institutional failures, a weakening schooling system, the environment, health coverage system deficit and pension funds are all being ignored through systematic 'Islamodiversion' with burkini as the latest illustration.
This further calls into question the real motives of the protagonists. The French political landscape is by and large dominated by white males above 50, and none of them voiced loud support for female politicians when they complained about sexism in politics or even sexual harassment.
In a country where a woman is raped every 40 minutes, where 200,000 women are victims of domestic violence and where the salary gap between men and women represents a whopping 15 percent on average, such staunch voices supporting women's rights would have been welcome.
Behind the call for "women's rights", politicians blew the dog whistle to issue new measures meant to humiliate a weak minority while making political gains.
Exposed
The burkini ban even revealed the underlying threat against French democracy itself. Rather than supporting the Council of the State's decision and upholding the rule of law, Manuel Valls declared that the debate must continue - after having supported the ban.
On the other hand - and after orchestrating the controversy - Sarkozy said that the French constitution should be changed in order to allow the burkini ban. Yes, the constitution!
Former President Sarkozy, centre, greets supporters during his first political campaign rally in Chateaurenard on August 25 [EPA]
In the meantime, right-wing candidates took the stage in their respective constituencies.
In a cheeky attempt to rewrite history and negate the massacres of millions of people, Sarkozy's former Prime Minister Francois Fillon singled out Muslims by indirectly naming them as the sole problematic community in France, and even that France should be proud of its colonial legacy.
Moreover, Alain Juppe, 73, who was Jacques Chirac's prime minister in the 1990s, invoked the idea of a contractual agreement on the principles of secularism between France and Muslims, as if the latter were newly arrived immigrants and had not been established for decades.
The sole winner of this kind of one-upmanship is none other than Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader who has remained silent throughout the summer.
She did not need to comment, nor intervene as all the other candidates were doing her job of campaigning solely on identity issues.
The Real Sufferers
The biggest losers, however, are the French people. More than nine million of them live below the poverty line; yet economics, unemployment, staggering inequalities, institutional failures, a weakening schooling system, the environment, health coverage system deficit and pension funds are all being ignored through systematic "Islamodiversion", with burkini as the latest illustration.
French people are being fooled, but they should only blame themselves. For decades they have failed to adopt a shared French identity, and are still battling to impose a dominant one.
Without much resistance, they have given their blessings to the normalisation of racism in public discourse, and many of them are enjoying this state of national neurosis.
Nearly seven million voted for Marine Le Pen during the last regional elections, and all polls put her in the top three for the presidential election, even though she brings no concrete policies to the table.
So far, the task for bringing sound debates on socioeconomic issues lies on the shoulders of the social movements against labour reform, which are planning to take to the streets again.
Even though those social movements are fragmented, their mobilisation has a chance to succeed if they radicalise and become more inclusive for all those who took the brunt of austerity - including the "banlieue".
As French sociologist Louis Chauvel says, we are witnessing "the expiration of a large majority of the political and intellectual sphere who still live in a world that others have seen disappear for 30 years".
Yet, those people are still in charge and still hoping to go on. As long as it is ruled by political midgets, France will never rise again.
The early and violent start of the presidential election campaign means the forthcoming months are bound to be nasty and no one can expect any voice of reason to emerge.
The country's political system has been shouting that is outdated, but who will hear the call and who will act to change it?
Source: aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/09/france-burkini-madness-160913084339952.html
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The New Abu Muslim Al-Khurasani
By Mshari Al Thaydi
16 September 2016
All ideas discussing religion have a political aspect that is as important as the religious one, if not more so. Abu Muslim al-Khurasani is a controversial character. He is the real founder of the Abbasid caliphate, and he killed more than 600,000 people to found his state, according to prominent historian Al-Tabari.
Some say he is the grandchild of Persian nobleman Bozorgmehr, and others say he descends from the family of the last Sasanian ruler Yazdegerd III. Ironically, the actual founder of the Abbasid caliphate, Abu Ja’far al-Mansur, killed Khurasani in the year 137 Hijri in Madain.
The Kurds also say he is one of them, his name is Bahzad, and he is from southern Kurdistan. He once claimed Abbasid ancestry, but history shows he was presented to Ibrahim al-Imam, head of the Abbasids and resident of Al-Hamima.
Murder
When Mansur went to kill him in his council after seeing guards behind the corridor, he told them to attack him with their swords upon his signal. Khurasani shouted: “Keep me for your enemies.” Mansur replied: “You are my worst enemy!” Ibn Khallikan said Khurasani “spoke the Arabic and Persian languages fluently; he had a well-balanced mind, wrote poetry and was knowledgeable.”
Khurasani is considered an Iranian national hero, just like Rustam during the Sasanian period and Qasem Soleimani during the modern era
Expressing his discontent over the deviation of the Abbasid revolution, historian Al-Dhahabi said in his book “Siyar A’lam al-Nubala”: “Here comes the foreign and strong state, founded by Khurasani; history is repeating itself.” The last comment is suggestive, as Dhahabi was a scholar during the Mamluk era.
The irony is that the character of Khurasani has a positive impact on Iranian culture, and it was a subject taught at school. There is also a football team, which is one of the best in Iran, in Mashhad in his name.
However, this man supported the rule of the Abbasids, who killed the Alawites, which means he is considered an Iranian national hero, just like Rustam during the Sasanian period and Qasem Soleimani during the modern era. Will we witness new destruction similar to that carried out by Khurasani?
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/09/16/The-new-Abu-Muslim-al-Khurasani.html
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Soldiers Replace Tourists in Aleppo
By Maher Al-Mounes
17 September 2016
Instead of colourful, handmade caps for sale to Syrians and foreign tourists, Zakaria Mosuli, the last tailor in Aleppo’s battered Old City, now sews military headwear almost exclusively for soldiers. More than five years of war have turned Aleppo’s historic city centre, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage site home to an imposing citadel, into a makeshift military barracks.
Syrian shoppers and foreign backpackers have been replaced by war-weary troops, and colourful souvenir stands have given way to checkpoints dividing the ancient market into rebel- and government-held zones. “I am the only tailor left in Aleppo’s old city,” says Mosuli in his modest shop in a regime-controlled street of the district. He snips carefully from camouflaged military-style fabric at his shop, one of a handful in the souk that are still open.
“In the past, I used to sew colourful hats for children and women and young people,” he says. “But today, my specialty is making army-style caps, as this whole neighbourhood has become a military zone and Syrian army soldiers are everywhere.” Violence broke out in Aleppo in mid-2012, more than a year after anti-government protests first erupted across Syria. The 13-km ancient market, the largest souk in the world, became a front line.
Its streets are littered with rubble and walls are scarred by years of gunfire, rockets and mortar rounds. Zakaria says he and his family refused to leave and do not regret their decision. He brings in fabric from a government-held district into Old Aleppo, crossing several checkpoints and dodging shelling and snipers along the way.
“I have loyal customers who come from inside Aleppo, but most of my customers these days are soldiers and officers.”
Pointing to two small birds that swooped into his apartment, Zakaria says: “These are my only friends. The people have all left.”
Of the 200 families that once lived in the Old City, just 15 remain.Most shops were shuttered long ago with metal gates painted in the tricolor Syrian government flag. Other storefronts are charred black from car bombs and shelling, and many have had their windows blown in by rocket attacks. When an AFP correspondent visited the market, soldiers were strolling through the ruined streets. A US-Russia truce deal has seen guns fall silent in large parts of Syria, including Aleppo.
Mohammed Zakaria, a 65-year-old barber in the souk, has been wounded three times by shelling and rocket attacks on the old city.But he says work is good as long as soldiers are still around.
In Bab Al-Faraj, a neighborhood adjacent to the ancient souk, Yehya Qoteish stands next to a vegetable stall stocked with tomatoes, aubergines, peppers and watermelon.
“There are a lot of displaced people who fled here because the rents are very low. People have taken to living in abandoned hotels,” he says. “My customers are displaced people and soldiers,” the 57-year-old says. Further along in Khan Al-Wazir, near the citadel, a pro-regime fighter carrying a baby and followed by his wife trudges home among the rubble. Elsewhere in the Old City, 66-year-old Sarkis still sits outside his storefront every day, even though he hasn’t had a customer in years.
He learned about photography and camera equipment from his brother, and stayed in the Old City to keep their shop running, despite the increasingly dire situation.
“I got used to seeing dozens of tourists in my shop, but today, there are only soldiers who pass by just to check in on me, not to be photographed.” Sarkis says he could not bear to leave the neighborhood where he was born and raised: “These few meters around my shop are my life, not just my livelihood.”
His children visit him every week, begging him to leave the ravaged district, but Sarkis refuses. “I was born here. I want to die here.”
Source: arabnews.com/node/985486/columns
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Ceasefire Terms Pose Major Risks for Syrian Rebels
By Sharif Nashashibi
16 September 2016
One need not espouse the hard-line ideology of Syrian rebel group Ahrar al-Sham to agree with its view that the new "cessation of hostilities", brokered by Russia and the United States, "will only serve to reinforce the [Syrian] regime and surround the revolution militarily".
The days leading up to the truce saw the regime and its allies intensify air strikes and ground offensives, killing scores of civilians and undermining trust, which is vital to maintaining a ceasefire.
This has been their tactic in the run-up to every previous truce. As such, Syrian civilians can be forgiven for dreading the very prospect of a ceasefire, let alone having no hope that it will last.
Just hours before the current one took effect, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad vowed to retake the whole country. He made the same vow while Russia and the US were hammering out the previous "cessation of hostilities" in February, which collapsed amid repeated regime violations.
Aid to Syria’s Aleppo Hits Political Roadblock
Ambiguous Ceasefire
This is a clear indication that, to him, such ceasefires are stepping stones to achieving that aim, not to a negotiated political solution.
Indeed, pro-Assad forces continue to besiege rebel-held areas during the current ceasefire.
This tactic, which is a war crime as it entails collective punishment of civilian populations, has proved effective in forcing rebel withdrawals from certain strategic areas.
This is probably why the regime is violating the ceasefire terms by denying aid access to rebel-held eastern Aleppo, and why at the time of writing, no aid had yet been delivered to besieged areas - a recent investigation by The Guardian exposed how the regime controls United Nations aid, and led this month to more than 70 aid groups suspending their cooperation with the UN in Syria.
As with the last truce, there is no indication or hope that the current one will lead to a political breakthrough, even if it does hold - sporadic violations have already been reported.
If the rebels do not or cannot separate, they risk being targeted by the regime, Russia and even the US. As such, the opposition is stuck between a rock and hard place.
Last week, the regime once again reiterated that Assad's position - the crux of the conflict - is not up for discussion.
This position will have only hardened amid recent battlefield gains thanks to Russian air strikes and ground support from Iranian troops, Hezbollah fighters and other foreign Shia militias - all of whom have been reinforced, particularly for the battle over Aleppo.
Meanwhile, Moscow has said that it will continue targeting "terrorists", without clarifying which groups it means. There is no consensus about which groups are "terrorist", and Russia's definition is far broader and more fluid than that of the Syrian opposition's foreign backers.
The Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham Dimension
As such, Moscow may feel it can continue to have a free hand in its air campaign, particularly since the text of the agreement with the US has not been made public or even made available to rebel groups.
In other words, they are being given an ultimatum to abide by a deal they have not even seen, or risk being targeted.
In that regard, a central demand is that rebel groups separate their forces from those of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly the al-Nusra Front).
This is being presented as something relatively straightforward and a test of rebel groups' sincerity with regard to renouncing terrorism and seeking a negotiated solution to the conflict.
However, this aspect of the agreement presents grave difficulties and dangerous choices for the opposition, and could majorly benefit the regime.
Firstly, it is far easier said than done given how intertwined the rebel positions are, particularly in the face of recent regime gains.
Jabhat Fateh al-Sham played a major role in the recent breaking of the regime siege of eastern Aleppo. This was a major feat that averted that part of the city falling to the regime, which would have been disastrous for the revolution.
A separation of rebel forces from those of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham would leave eastern Aleppo vulnerable to the regime, whose advance was stalled and reversed precisely because rebel forces worked together.
Generally speaking, if the rebels separate, this may entail ceding positions to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. In the short term this would bolster the jihadist group, the opposite of what the "cessation of hostilities" intends.
In the longer term, however, US and Russian air strikes against the group - which would be easier to target if other rebels separate from it - would lead to it withdrawing from certain areas. The subsequent void may well be filled by the regime.
Between A Rock and Hard Place
If rebel groups separate from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and the ceasefire collapses - which it almost certainly will - the overall armed opposition will be more divided, and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham may target those groups.
When it was al-Nusra Front, it did not shy away from attacking other rebels. For example, it forced two western-backed groups to disband altogether.
If the rebels do not or cannot separate, they risk being targeted by the regime, Russia and even the US. As such, the opposition is stuck between a rock and hard place. The regime and its allies do not face that kind of pressure under this "cessation of hostilities".
The architects of the agreement are overlooking the extent to which various rebel groups cooperate with Jabhat Faeth al-Sham out of strategic necessity rather than ideological convergence.
With regard to the latter aspect, for example, the Free Syrian Army and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham have nothing in common.
Given all these considerations, even if the agreement is not meant to benefit the regime - which can be hotly disputed, particularly regarding Russian intentions - it may do so in any case.
The irony is that this truce may lead to more war or to pacification, but not to peace.
Sharif Nashashibi is an award-winning journalist and analyst on Arab affairs.
Source: aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/09/ceasefire-terms-pose-major-risks-syrian-rebels-160915092126740.html
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South Africa Renews Efforts to Help Unite Hamas, Fatah
By Ahmad Melhem
September 16, 2016
In an effort to end the nine-year division between Hamas and Fatah, South African ambassador to Palestine Ashraf Suleiman will soon meet with groups that have developed initiatives toward that goal.
Suleiman is expected to start talks soon with Patriots to End the Split and Restore National Unity and the Palestinian Center for Policy Research & Strategic Studies — Masarat. He will seek to combine their initiatives with one recently revived by Awad Abdel Fattah, general secretary of the National Democratic Assembly, along with activists and advocates for the Palestinian cause in South Africa, under the supervision of the Institute of Palestine and South Africa.
On Sept. 7, Abdel Fattah met with Suleiman to discuss the upcoming meeting, the date of which has not yet been set.
South Africa joined the Palestinian reconciliation and national unity efforts by sponsoring a South African initiative two years ago without much traction, but this year the effort has shown promise, as two Palestinian dialogue sessions were held in April and July in Cape Town. The sessions involved representatives of Palestinian factions, intellectuals, media personnel and independent figures.
By integrating the three initiatives, the parties hope to form a popular and intellectual movement powerful enough to end the division by pressuring the parties involved, Abdel Fattah told Al-Monitor.
“The South African move is designed to [connect] efforts and coordinate visions between the three initiatives in an attempt to combine them all and form a lobby. These are, namely, our initiative under the auspices of South Africa; the Masarat initiative, which managed to draft clear ideas on how to achieve a practical national program to end the split; and Patriots to End the Split and Restore National Unity, which has been active to bring about a comprehensive vision. This is the task that Suleiman will embark on through his meeting with those in charge of the initiatives," he said.
“The three initiatives converge on many ideas," he added.
South Africa will rely on its strong ties with Palestinian factions and the Palestinian Authority. Those ties have been demonstrated on more than one occasion, most recently in April when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas inaugurated Nelson Mandela Square in Ramallah, where a 20-foot statue of the anti-apartheid leader was erected. Former city of Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau said during an April 25 press conference that Mandela’s statue is “a symbol of hope and inspiration for the people of Palestine to realize their freedom.”
Masarat Director General Hani al-Masri also emphasized South Africa's friendly relations with the Palestinians and its interest in ending the split. He told Al-Monitor that Masarat is ready to cooperate with all parties seeking to develop a formula to end the division and reshape a national program.
“Masarat has integral perceptions on how to end the split and achieve national unity. They were formulated in a national unity document, and we support all efforts to benefit from those perceptions," he said. “The document seeks to bridge the gaps and remove the obstacles to the previous agreements. Thus, we viewed that there is need for a full package, not a partial solution to contentious issues to be reached, that all [relevant groups] need to be involved, not only the factions, and that the focus should be placed on developing a national strategy.”
Masri said he welcomes the South African efforts and stressed that the Palestinian people need to be able to develop a third popular current to pressure the parties to the crisis.
Hamas and Fatah had several negotiation rounds to resolve their split, which goes back to 2007. During that time, they have signed numerous agreements in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Qatar, which have all failed to bring about a real reconciliation. Most recent among these agreements were the Beach Refugee Camp agreement on April 23, 2014, and the failed reconciliation meetings in Doha, Qatar, on June 18, 2016.
Taysir al-Zubri, a member of Patriots to End the Split and Restore National Unity, told Al-Monitor, “We learned that South Africa has a project to resolve Palestinian differences and is collecting data from all national parties to reach a formula that would be agreed upon by all parties in the Palestinian arena.”
He added, “We have met with those in charge of the South African initiative [and] our views converged. We focused on how to move political dialogue to the Palestinian street, namely to involve institutions, unions, factions, human rights commissions and citizens to pressure the parties to the split.”
His group welcomes all delegations willing to work and coordinate to achieve national unity. He stressed that the organization "will examine all suggested ideas.”
Source: al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/09/south-african-move-to-end-palestinian-split.html
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Assad Backers and the Logic of the Playground in Syria
By Dr. Azeem Ibrahim
16 September 2016
Last week, we received news that President Assad’s regime in Syria had used chemical weapons on its people. Volunteer emergency workers working in the Sukari district of Aleppo reported that Syrian forces had flown helicopters over the suburb and dropped barrel bombs of chlorine on the men, women and children going about their business below.
This is just the latest in the Assad regime’s catalogue of brutality. Last February, Assad’s air force launched a series of missiles at a field hospital. Medics rushed to find any signs of life from the rubble and pull them into an ambulance. Assad’s jets waited, returned, and then flew over the ambulance as they drove towards the hospital.
They then dropped another bomb on the ambulance in which 25 civilians were killed, among them eight medical workers. But the jets were not done yet. They flew over another field hospital and dropped another bomb. The Economist reported that Ahmed Tarakji, the president of the Syrian American Medical Society, said “there’s no way that … they didn’t know what they were doing.”
This is barbarism worthy of the worst monsters of global history. It is a marked regression in the application of the norms of war. And yet for reasons which I will come to, there is next to no prospect that Assad - the man in whose name those bombs fell - will appear at the International Criminal Court.
The first part of the blame must be laid at the door of the United States. At the very least the US could have enforced a no-fly zone. That, at least, would have prevented Assad’s planes dropping chlorine on his people. But instead, President Obama refused. The US could have enforced a safe area for refugees. That, at least, would have allowed the many innocent victims of Assad’s conflict to flee in safety. Instead, he dithered.
By describing all opposition to Assad as ‘al-Qaeda’ and painting Assad as the real victim of US aggression they seem to have muddied the waters
Consequences of Inaction
US inaction in the face of Assad’s brutality has consequences. Last week, an umbrella group of Syrian opposition parties met in London to put together a proposal for a future for Syria without Assad. If Assad were to fall, it would be this grouping who would fill the vacuum. The less the US and its allies do to remove Assad, the less brighter the future prospects.
One former member of Assad’s government put it succinctly: “there was no pressure on the regime to accept this proposal.” he said. “Why,” he asked, “would [Assad] accept now when he did not in 2012; when the [navy] fleets of the US were in the Mediterranean and poised to strike him? [The Syrian opposition] have no pressure to bring against him because there have not been any developments in their favor.”
But the geopolitical cover Assad receives is only half of the story. Assad is able to continue to commit his crimes in part because of the rhetorical cover provided by some journalists, political leaders and religious leaders. They have all stepped up to the plate to sow confusion.
By describing all opposition to Assad as “al-Qaeda” and painting Assad as the real victim of US aggression they seem to have muddied the waters. Arguments for action against Assad receive less public hearing thanks to the work of their pens.
John Pilger, for example, has argued that Assad’s survival is necessary to oppose ISIS, writing “the only effective opponents of ISIS are accredited demons of the west – Syria, Iran, Hezbollah.” Patrick Cockburn has written that “there has to be some relationship between those who are attacking ISIS and the real forces on the ground.”
As if the only forces capable of attacking ISIS were those of Assad, an assertion which would be received bitterly by the Kurdish fighters who have done the most to repel the group and who are fully aware that there has intentionally been little engagement between Assad’s forces and ISIS.
The leader of the UK Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, also reportedly weighed in to support Putin’s and Iran’s entry into the war on Assad’s side. He even went as far as claiming Iran was fully justified in assisting Assad as “they presumably feel under threat that they may be next on the western countries hit list”.
The Rev’d Nazir-Ali, not to be outdone, flew all the way to Syria with an unsanctioned British delegation for a face-to-face with Assad himself subsequently claiming on Channel 4 News that Assad was being “unfairly demonized in the West”.
In all these cases, these people seems to have been blinded. They see the world through the lens only of a fight between two Manichaean forces - those of the “imperialist” United States and those who resist its advance.
Any grouping allied with the former must be bad and any grouping allied with the latter must, in consequence, be beyond criticism. It is the logic of the playground. By muddying the case for action against President Assad, these analysts, journalists, and politicians become the accomplices to real suffering in Syria today.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/09/16/Assad-backers-and-the-logic-of-the-playground-in-Syria.html
URL: https://newageislam.com/middle-east-press/agriculture-new-oil-isis-new/d/108581