Two birds killed with one stone

  An interesting point about  Salafi jihadists — such as Al Qaeda — is that at the same time as they have declared Israel, USA and the many sect of Islam as “enemies of Islam’ , their actions in Afghanistan, Iraq Libya and Syria have been consistently in service of US, Israeli and Saudi ‘interests’.  

Al Qaeda and the Taleban consequently strengthened their own support base in Afghanistan, and on top that spread their influence deeper into Pakistan. Al Qaeda then established a stronghold in Iraq in tandem with the 2003 US invasion of the country. Similarly, Al Qaeda moved into Libya, riding on the back of a NATO bombing campaign in 2011.

Al Qaeda had no presence or any meaningful influence in either Iraq or Libya before the US and NATO wars there. 

Today, Al Qaeda, under the name of ” Jabhat ul-Nusra ‘, has got itself a firm foothold in Syria, while devouring its infrastructure and destroying its wealth and resources. Their cultural fascism is winning in Syria.

The violent destruction of non-subservient regimes in Afghanistan (2001), Iraq (2003) and Libya (2011) was certainly no loss to US, Israeli and Saudi ‘interests’, or at least it seemed so before the outcomes were known, especially in Iraq .After the loss of Iraq and an unclear outcome in Libya, the Saudis, Israelis and Americans would certainly love to see Iran (and Russia) lose a strong ally in Syria. At this juncture, Al Qaeda certainly helps their short-term geopolitical ’cause’.

While it is not suggested that there is any evidence for direct collusion between these parties, it is quite likely that Al Qaeda, including Al Nusra mercenaries in Syria, is infiltrated by CIA and MOSSAD agents, and manipulated into the required direction with full Saudi intelligence support. This has been standard operating procedure for both the CIA (for example in infiltrating Hezbollah) and MOSSAD (for example in the recent case of Prisoner X). And Saudi Arabia, is the original home of Al Qaeda, and the birthplace of Salafism.

And it is precisely the Saudi Salafi Jihadists who represent the most potent internal challenge to the Saudi regime, as Salafi ideology can only accept an Islamic state led by a supreme religious as well as political leader known as a ‘Caliph’ ruling over all Muslim lands. What better way for the Saudi monarchs to deal with such an internal threat than to pay them to fight for years to overthrow various foreign foes such as Libya and Iraq ? This strategy has the added “advantage’ of getting many of the same Salafi Jihadists killed in the process: two birds killed with one stone, and never mind the cart full of “collateral damage’ in a foreign land.  

And all the while, US hegemony is ‘maintained’ as the ‘true religion’ of this unholy alignment of “interests’ raining death on the region. 

Rather ironically, this rain of death is precisely the reason why this “axis of convenience’ is gradually but surely losing influence in the region, including for the US’ traditional allies, as the events of the past few years clearly show: 

– Iran continues to grow in influence and stature , resisting all sanctions and other machinations;

– Saudi citizens are increasingly demanding reforms and uneasy about their country’s subservient and destructive role in the region;

– Israel has lost all control of events in its neighborhood, and is laden with a bomb-cartoonist Prime Minister who was publicly forced to apologize to Turkey by the US recently (unprecedented in Israel’s short history);

– Yemen has been plunged into long-term chaos;

– Bahrain’s oppressive regime has been exposed to the world;

– Jordan’s monarch has become a source of embarrassment to all of his own allies and paymasters, and looks increasingly weaker against Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood;

– Egypt has drifted toward a more independent role with a Muslim Brotherhood government that is clearly at odds with the Gulf’s Arab monarchies as well as Salafi Jihadists;

– Tunisia and Morocco too have moved toward greater influence of Salafist.

– Turkey has lost a great deal of its credibility on the Arab Street through its warmongering actions against Libya and Syria; and

– Libya has plunged into chaos following the 2011 NATO bombing campaign that ousted Qaddafi. 

The fall in US credibility and influence is clearly tangible at a time of economic troubles for the not-so-super power today, as shown in the latest Arab public opinion polls .

In the longer-term, the US and its allies will have to contend with a growing band of Salafi Jihadists looking for more wars against their stated enemies, namely USA and Israel. By the time they finish with Syria, they will be even more battle-hardened and perhaps even emboldened. And their numbers may grow larger, as repeated cycles of war, economic stagnation and growing poverty in the region will provide them with yet more fodder.

Source: wordpress.com By Niloufar Parsi

B.N