ISIS Bringing Enemies Together: Now A General ‘Red Line,' Regardless Of Different Goals
12 September 2014
By Abdulrahman Al-Rashed
We are witnessing a unique situation in which
different countries, parties and tribes now have no
choice but to take a position against the Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). ISIS is the reason
behind a strange gathering of opponents. Most of the
Iraqi forces—whether Sunni, Shi'ite or Kurd—agreed to
reconcile out of a mutual fear of ISIS. ISIS has also
accelerated the departure of Nuri Al-Maliki from the
premiership with most of his Sunni opposition now
returning to Baghdad, ready to cooperate.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reconciled
with the government in Baghdad, returning two oil
fields to its control and ending the enduring state of
estrangement. Even US President Barack Obama has been
forced to renege on his promise not to involve US
troops in combat operations in Iraq since the pullout.
Likewise, Iran has abandoned Maliki and Saudi Arabia
has accepted his successor Haider Al-Abadi. What an
extraordinary turn of events! The moral of this story
is that there is no place for ISIS and that it is
impossible to use it to manipulate the region.
There has been a heated dispute over ISIS among the
tribal leaders in Iraq's western Sunni-majority Anbar
province. Some tribes have declared that with the
departure of Maliki, they are now ready to cooperate
with the government to fight against the terrorist
organization that threatens all. Other tribes have
announced that they will continue to refuse to fight
against ISIS, hoping to use its advance to ensure that
all their demands are met.
The fight to defeat ISIS will be a long and perilous
one. While its opponents agreed to put aside their
disagreements in order to fight against it together,
ISIS is also demonstrating its intelligence, including
the intelligence to exploit the political scene. ISIS
wants to exploit the disagreements between the Sunni
tribes in Anbar and Nineveh. While some regional
governments are trying to be even more intelligent,
seeking to use ISIS to threaten not only Iraq, but
also Saudi Arabia. They sought to use the Sunni tribes
that rebelled against Maliki to cover ISIS's
deployment in western Iraq, enabling it to recruit the
largest possible number of angry and disenfranchised
Iraqis.
Now, the terrorist organization has become a serious
force in different parts of Iraq. It owns oil and
wheat after seizing governmental silos. It also has
advanced weaponry after seizing Iraqi army stores.
ISIS is able to control large areas thanks to the
increase in its numbers and the money it seized.
ISIS, the common enemy, has now become a general ‘red
line,' regardless of the different goals and
objectives being pursued by each party in the regional
game.
Al Rashed is
the general manager of Al -Arabiya television. He is
also the former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al- Awsat,
and the leading Arabic weekly magazine, Al Majalla. He
is also a senior Columnist in the daily newspapers of
Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is a US post-graduate
degree in mass communications. He has been a guest on
many TV current affairs programs. He is currently
based in Dubai.