Tailor-made Enemies?
Published in L'Expression
(Algeria) on 7 May 2015
by Karim Mohsen (link to original)
(Algeria) on 7 May 2015
by Karim Mohsen (link to original)
Translated from
by Emily France.
Edited by Bora Mici.
Since the invasion and destruction of Iraq by the United States in March 2003, the Middle East has been immersed in inconceivable chaos. In similar fashion, several parallel or intermeshed wars are taking place there, powered by the ambitions of some and the intrigues of others.
Iraq is still dealing with the torments of war since the fateful day of March 21, 2003, and Syria has been torn apart over the past four years — a direct consequence of an alleged Arab Spring. Yemen is under the control of apprentice imperialists, subcontractors for obvious clients, who have caused even more death and destruction. A Saudi general even responded to the requests of international nonprofits calling for a humanitarian pause in Yemen that he didn’t have time to waste with these “trivialities;" he has “a war to fight.”
What is easier, in fact, than dealing death and desolation from the sky? Already distressing, the situation in this region is now inextricable.
The plural destabilization of the Arab world, with the help of Arab armies, is executed for whose benefit? Even if the answer may seem obvious — you could argue that the United States and Israel reap all the benefits from this deterioration of the situation in the Middle East — the question remains: What’s in it for Saudi Arabia, which is fully engaged in this high-risk cycle? Make no mistake, it is Riyadh that imposed this belligerence and initiated this improbable “coalition,” formed by the Gulf monarchies — minus the Sultanate of Oman — and supported by Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan, that is fighting a losing battle.
Note that Senegal, at Riyadh’s request, sent a military detachment of 2,100 soldiers to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. If you refer to America’s plan to partition the so-called Arab world — in which Saudi Arabia itself is included — into small religious and ethnic states, Riyadh’s position appears therefore even more intriguing, suicidal and criminal. The wars in Syria and in Iraq, which already have an ethnic and religious whiff to them, have spread to Yemen, where Sunni countries led by a backward Wahhabism attack Yemeni Shiites head on. This gives the impression that Muslim Sunnis are at war with Muslim Shiites.
Artificially pitting Muslims against each other — note the curious concern for precision on the part of the international media, which don’t fail to distinguish between the various Sunni and Shiite groups and subgroups, heavily insisting on these two branches of Islam that are presented as inveterate antagonists — is this innocent? Are we facing a religious war of another age? Is this the truth? We doubt it, especially as this situation, a long time in the making, in no way corresponds with the interests of Muslims, no matter what persuasion they adhere to.
In fact, the war that Saudi Arabia has waged against Yemeni Shiites is seen as a preparation for the real conflict with Iran, the supposed principal enemy of the Wahhabi kingdom, showing the strategic depth of the Arab-Muslim world. Also, ambiguity remains: For whose benefit was the war in Yemen fomented? Thereby, Saudi Arabia, which initiated and supported the rebellion in Syria, providing multiform assistance to Nusra Front jihadis, al-Qaida’s Syrian subsidiary, will have singularly reaped the benefits for the United States and Israel. Also, while the world has its eyes fixed on the “show” of fratricidal inter-Arab wars, the Jewish state quietly pursues the Judaization and reconfiguration of occupied Palestine.
Is that the result that was expected by the supervisors of the so-called Arab world’s destruction, in which the Wahhabi kingdom plays a leading a role? This also raises the question as to what the role of Saudi Arabia was in the division of ethnic groups and Middle Eastern faiths that have lived, up until now, on good terms. Now, Saudi Arabia, whose responsibility is totally committed to the cleavages that have emerged between Muslims (Shiites and Sunnis), sees the emergence of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, whose advent was abetted by Riyadh’s actions. Note that the Islamic State group, which occupies part of Syrian and Iraqi territories, has not hidden its desire to free the holy places of Islamic, now sharing a 250 mile border with Saudi Arabia.
Finally, what game are the Saudis playing at, which has, with the help of the United States, set the so-called “Arab” world ablaze and upside-down. For what profit?
Iraq is still dealing with the torments of war since the fateful day of March 21, 2003, and Syria has been torn apart over the past four years — a direct consequence of an alleged Arab Spring. Yemen is under the control of apprentice imperialists, subcontractors for obvious clients, who have caused even more death and destruction. A Saudi general even responded to the requests of international nonprofits calling for a humanitarian pause in Yemen that he didn’t have time to waste with these “trivialities;" he has “a war to fight.”
What is easier, in fact, than dealing death and desolation from the sky? Already distressing, the situation in this region is now inextricable.
The plural destabilization of the Arab world, with the help of Arab armies, is executed for whose benefit? Even if the answer may seem obvious — you could argue that the United States and Israel reap all the benefits from this deterioration of the situation in the Middle East — the question remains: What’s in it for Saudi Arabia, which is fully engaged in this high-risk cycle? Make no mistake, it is Riyadh that imposed this belligerence and initiated this improbable “coalition,” formed by the Gulf monarchies — minus the Sultanate of Oman — and supported by Jordan, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan, that is fighting a losing battle.
Note that Senegal, at Riyadh’s request, sent a military detachment of 2,100 soldiers to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. If you refer to America’s plan to partition the so-called Arab world — in which Saudi Arabia itself is included — into small religious and ethnic states, Riyadh’s position appears therefore even more intriguing, suicidal and criminal. The wars in Syria and in Iraq, which already have an ethnic and religious whiff to them, have spread to Yemen, where Sunni countries led by a backward Wahhabism attack Yemeni Shiites head on. This gives the impression that Muslim Sunnis are at war with Muslim Shiites.
Artificially pitting Muslims against each other — note the curious concern for precision on the part of the international media, which don’t fail to distinguish between the various Sunni and Shiite groups and subgroups, heavily insisting on these two branches of Islam that are presented as inveterate antagonists — is this innocent? Are we facing a religious war of another age? Is this the truth? We doubt it, especially as this situation, a long time in the making, in no way corresponds with the interests of Muslims, no matter what persuasion they adhere to.
In fact, the war that Saudi Arabia has waged against Yemeni Shiites is seen as a preparation for the real conflict with Iran, the supposed principal enemy of the Wahhabi kingdom, showing the strategic depth of the Arab-Muslim world. Also, ambiguity remains: For whose benefit was the war in Yemen fomented? Thereby, Saudi Arabia, which initiated and supported the rebellion in Syria, providing multiform assistance to Nusra Front jihadis, al-Qaida’s Syrian subsidiary, will have singularly reaped the benefits for the United States and Israel. Also, while the world has its eyes fixed on the “show” of fratricidal inter-Arab wars, the Jewish state quietly pursues the Judaization and reconfiguration of occupied Palestine.
Is that the result that was expected by the supervisors of the so-called Arab world’s destruction, in which the Wahhabi kingdom plays a leading a role? This also raises the question as to what the role of Saudi Arabia was in the division of ethnic groups and Middle Eastern faiths that have lived, up until now, on good terms. Now, Saudi Arabia, whose responsibility is totally committed to the cleavages that have emerged between Muslims (Shiites and Sunnis), sees the emergence of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, whose advent was abetted by Riyadh’s actions. Note that the Islamic State group, which occupies part of Syrian and Iraqi territories, has not hidden its desire to free the holy places of Islamic, now sharing a 250 mile border with Saudi Arabia.
Finally, what game are the Saudis playing at, which has, with the help of the United States, set the so-called “Arab” world ablaze and upside-down. For what profit?
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