The British Foreign Secretary said over the weekend that the UK was moving closer to getting involved in the fighting in Syria. The Tory government of prime minister David Cameron may seek a vote in Parliament to authorize British planes to take part in the air campaigns against ISIS that are currently underway by the USA, Turkey, Jordan and other nations. The Foreign Secretary said that the only way to stop the massive flow of refugees to Europe from Syria was to stop the fighting in that country.
So here's the surprising part. The Foreign Minister of the Assad regime in Syria denounced the British statements as "interference" in Syria's affairs and a return of British colonialism. Think about that. Supposedly, the Shiite Assad regime is the mortal enemy of the Sunni ISIS group. Why would Assad be against British air strikes against the strongest faction of those fighting in the civil war against Assad's forces?
The answer is that there is at the moment an unspoken alliance between the Assad force and ISIS. Both of them are attacking the other Sunni factions battling in the civil war. Assad certainly does not care if ISIS slaughters those who oppose it. For the Assad forces, the people ISIS kills are just that many fewer that they will need to deal with. The Assad group knows that ISIS will never be able to get international support, so Assad reasons that once the "acceptable" Sunni forces are destroyed, then ISIS will be able to be crushed.
The reality is that what is needed now is a Western cooperative effort to crush both ISIS and the Assad forces. That would drive the Iranians out of Syria. That would drive the Russians out of Syria. That would drive the terrorists from Hezbollah out of Syria. It would drive the worst of the Islamic terrorists in ISIS out of Syria. It could return control of Syria to the 75% of its population that are Sunni. It could also protect the minority populations like the Druze and the Yazidis and the Christians from eradication at the hands of ISIS. And all of this would end the torrent of refugees making their way to Europe. Of course, such a move would require the armies of Western Europe to take offensive action in a war zone. Could we really see the French, German, Italian and other European armies move in a coordinated fashion against the forces in Syria? These Western armies have the ability to take out the warring parties. But do they have the will to do so? It surely doesn't look like it.
So here's the surprising part. The Foreign Minister of the Assad regime in Syria denounced the British statements as "interference" in Syria's affairs and a return of British colonialism. Think about that. Supposedly, the Shiite Assad regime is the mortal enemy of the Sunni ISIS group. Why would Assad be against British air strikes against the strongest faction of those fighting in the civil war against Assad's forces?
The answer is that there is at the moment an unspoken alliance between the Assad force and ISIS. Both of them are attacking the other Sunni factions battling in the civil war. Assad certainly does not care if ISIS slaughters those who oppose it. For the Assad forces, the people ISIS kills are just that many fewer that they will need to deal with. The Assad group knows that ISIS will never be able to get international support, so Assad reasons that once the "acceptable" Sunni forces are destroyed, then ISIS will be able to be crushed.
The reality is that what is needed now is a Western cooperative effort to crush both ISIS and the Assad forces. That would drive the Iranians out of Syria. That would drive the Russians out of Syria. That would drive the terrorists from Hezbollah out of Syria. It would drive the worst of the Islamic terrorists in ISIS out of Syria. It could return control of Syria to the 75% of its population that are Sunni. It could also protect the minority populations like the Druze and the Yazidis and the Christians from eradication at the hands of ISIS. And all of this would end the torrent of refugees making their way to Europe. Of course, such a move would require the armies of Western Europe to take offensive action in a war zone. Could we really see the French, German, Italian and other European armies move in a coordinated fashion against the forces in Syria? These Western armies have the ability to take out the warring parties. But do they have the will to do so? It surely doesn't look like it.
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