America and the Islamic State: Blackmailing the Arabs!

Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan, former chief of the Dubai Police Force, summed up America’s position on the so-called Islamic State when he stated that the American government, just as it previously used Saddam Hussein to extort material gain from the Gulf States, is today using the organization to blackmail them again. He went on to say that “Bush asked for a coalition to remove Saddam from our territory. Today, Obama is asking for a coalition to remove ISIS. Of course, it all comes at a price.”*

Khalfan accused Washington of supporting the Islamic State and accepting the idea of the Islamic Caliphate that it seeks to establish. He cited statements made by the American president’s homeland security adviser, who said that the “Islamic caliphate” is inevitable and the only choice America has is to support a European Union-like vision of it. Referring to these statements, Khalfan said, “the American caliphate by way of ISIS.”*

For his part, Egypt’s Minister of Religious Endowments Dr. Mohamed Mokhtar described the Islamic State as the new Tatars, mobilized by Zionist hands, and stressed that the murder and barbaric butcher-like slaughter of opponents, mutilation of bodies, and illicit abuse perpetrated by the Islamic State and similar organizations is carefully planned. The Tatars, who are historically linked to all kinds of savagery and barbarianism, terrorized their opponents in order to sap their strength, destroy their morale and force them into unconditional surrender. That way, the Tatars did not have to abide by any treaty or keep any promise regarding their opponent’s safety or protection.

In the latest Arab League meeting, convened in Cairo this week, the Arab foreign ministers focused on the need to put in place a unified plan to confront Islamic State terrorism. They agreed to take all necessary steps to confront the organization and to cooperate with all international, regional and local efforts to fight radical groups. Similarly, in their concluding statement the ministers supported last month’s U.N. Security Council resolution that called on member states to stop the flow of logistical, military and financial support to the extremists in Iraq and Syria.

Those studying the concluding statement will observe that the Arab ministers demonstrated the Arab League’s readiness to cooperate with efforts to combat radical groups. This means that the Arabs are fully ready to participate in the American-led coalition that was recently announced, including around 40 states. In this regard, American Secretary of State John Kerry reportedly called Nabil Elaraby, Secretary-General of the Arab League, to persuade him of the necessity of giving Arab support and of having Arab states join the anti-Islamic State coalition.

What is interesting is that the Islamic State is also striving to form a global coalition that transcends the borders of the Middle East. According to the British newspaper The Times, it has actually begun recruiting elements of al-Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Islamic State supporters have begun distributing a twelve-page booklet titled “Victory” in and around the city of Peshawar in Pakistan. The booklet, which is adorned with a picture of a Kalashnikov rifle, appeared in the Afghan refugee camps near Peshawar and in neighboring Afghanistan. The newspaper said that the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, with the spread of videos featuring decapitations and mass murders, has made a strong impression on radical groups in Southern Asia.

The battle with the Islamic State, in addition to its potential to expand into other countries, may go on for years, according to statements made to the New York Times by an anonymous American official. He signaled that the military campaign against the organization may take three years to complete, implying that it may continue after President Obama’s second term ends. He suggested that there are three stages, the first of which is the air operation that American warplanes have been conducting for around a month and that has included 145 airstrikes as of the middle of this week. The second stage will begin after the formation of the Iraqi government and will include arming and intensively training the Iraqi forces, the Kurdish Peshmerga, and elements of the Sunni tribes. The third and final phase is the most difficult because it requires destroying Islamic State strongholds in Syria. The campaign will probably end within three years, though perhaps not before Obama’s departure and the arrival of a new American administration.

The Islamic State, then, is an American creation designed to spread chaos and destruction in the Arab region and to allow Washington to blackmail the countries there. Washington wants those countries to fear the bogeyman that, in reality, it spawned, embraced, nourished and fattened up until it became a barbaric monster threatening them and forcing them to give all kinds of aid and support to help subdue. Thus, America is like a man who summons a demon and who alone has the power to dismiss it. It is exactly the same scenario that America staged with al-Qaida, as I mentioned in an earlier analysis. And the Arabs — all the Arabs — must pay the price over and over again!

* Editor’s note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.