Chapter 6:
Genealogy of Islamic terrorism
6-10(53) Syria:
Enemy’s enemy is ally or another enemy?
The civil war in
Syria was a military struggle between the government and several anti-government
entities which demanded the resignation of President Baser al-Assad. Iran and
Russia supported the Assad government to strengthen their influence in the
region. Iran supported Assad because the clan of al-Assad was from Alawite sect
which was one of Shiite faction. Russia supported Assad due to military
purpose. Russia held a navy base in Syria which faces to Mediterranean Sea. The
sea lane from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean through the Bosporus Strait had
a significant strategic meaning for Russia compared with that of the Atlantic
Sea through Baltic Sea where was frozen in winter. On the other hand, Western
countries including the United States supported anti-government entities to
overthrow the autocratic Assad regime. Saudi Arabia and Turkey of Sunni faction
unanimously support anti-government entities. Their purpose was to keep
countermeasures against the Shiite faction of Assad and Iran.
However,
anti-government entities in Syria were not solid. They were like “bitter
enemies in the same boat”, or crowd without order. Leadership had changed from
time to time. The main wing was the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) consisting
of Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and several Arab anti-government
forces including Al-Nusra Front. Islamic State (IS, ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) was
the independent power different from neither government nor anti-government entities.
YPG, a leading
force in the SDF, was a military organization by Kurds who lived in the northeastern
Syria. The Kurds are scattered in the four countries of Syria, Turkey, Iran and
Iraq. They are confronting with respective governments for independence and/or
autonomy. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is secular military forces of
Sunnis and supported by the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Turkey tries to
eliminate YPG from SDF to constrain the Kurdish independence movement in the
country.
Al-Nusra Front was the descendent of international
terrorist organization al-Qaeda. They were one of the religious wings which
advocates Islamic fundamentalism and Salafism. Islamic State (IS) was
originally called Islamic State of Iraq (ISI). They started terrorist activities
in December 2013 when US President Obama declared the end of the Iraq war and
withdraw US military forces from Iraq. Islamic State expanded its activity to
Syria and renamed "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)". They declared
the independence of "Islamic State (IS)" in 2014. Although they
proclaimed an independent state, it was identified that they were cruel
terrorists and burglary group. No countries have recognized IS as a independent
state.
Foreign powers wondered
which sect should be supported because the leadership was changed frequently
one sect to another. The United States tried to provide military training and supplied
weapons to the Syrian Democratic Forces, which was liberal democratic sect
among rebels. But the liberal forces got no meaningful power. West European type
of democracy had little influence in the Middle East. Military and financial
aid were wasted like spraying water in the desert.
Saudi Arabia and
other Gulf secular monarchs supported the Syrian Democratic Force. This was their
last option. GCC countries feared that Sarafist (Islamic extremist) of Sunni
like the Al-Nusra Front or IS (Islamic State) would endanger their monarchs. At
the same time GCC monarchs thought that the Syrian government supported by Iran
was more unacceptable. And as far as they kept pace with Western countries, their
absolute monarchy system was stable for a while. GCC monarchs supported SDF as the
last option although they were wary of liberal democracy. Despite military
support by US and financial support by the Gulf countries, Syrian Democratic
Force was much inferior compared to other rebels in the military power. They can
only protect themselves.
The Islamic
extremists, Al-Nusra Front (now Al-Qaeda in Syria) and Islamic State (IS), have
deep religious faith and high combat capability. They are willing to
self-sacrifice in the battle. But the religious power was up to the top leader.
They tended to split into several pieces. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi al-Husseini
al-Qauraishi left from Al-Nusra Front and established Islamic State (IS). IS
did not rely on foreign aid. IS aimed to get hegemony not only in Iraq and
Syria but also in whole Middle East. They did not acknowledge the current
border based on the Sykes-Picot Agreement which was drawn by UK and France
during colonial era. IS planned to establish an ideal Caliphate Islamic
religious state. They recruited young people living abroad by using the
Internet and converted them to combatants.
Islamic State
(IS) was a lone wolf terrorist group. Al-Nusra Front relies on Al Qaeda's
network. Syrian Democratic Force was supported by Kurdish force with assistance
from the West and the Gulf countries. All of them were anti-government entities.
Legitimate Syrian government supported by Russia and Iran confronted against these
anti-government entities. In summerly, Russia and Iran supported the Iraqi government
and the Middle Eastern and European country and the United States supported anti-government
entities. Situation in Syria was extremely in chaos.
Then foreign
countries focused on the destruction of Islamic State (IS) as the common goal.
IS stood in inferior situation. IS called for Muslims living in the US, Europe
and Russia to carry out the suicide bombing. Some IS combatants were requested
to go home and participate in terror activities. The former was called homegrown
terror and the latter was called hometown terror. To prevent homegrown or hometown
terrors, IS had to be destroyed completely as soon as possible. Only Syrian
government's army and the Kurdish force of the Syrian Democratic Force could be
effective against the IS. However, Kurdish troops are not in a position to get
support from Russia, Turkey and Iran.
Ultimately,
Western countries including the United States put aside the elimination of President
Al-Assad for the time being. They focused to the fight against IS. They
overlooked the military operations by Syria and Russia. Government and anti-government
forces bombed the Islamic State (IS) separately.
Saudi Arabia and
other Gulf countries once supported the Syrian Democratic Force of Sunni were
abandoned by the United States. Was the enemy’ enemy a friend or
another enemy? The chaos in Syria was deepened. The future of the Middle East was
invisible now.
(To be continued ----)
By Areha Kazuya
E-mail: areha_kazuya@jcom.home.ne.jp
Home Page: OCIN INITIATIVE
