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bemildred

(90,061 posts)
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 06:39 PM Jun 2014

Saudi, Kuwaiti groups helped create Islamist monster in Iraq they can't control

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Saudi Arabia and other petro-powerhouses of the Gulf for years encouraged a flow of private cash to Sunni rebels in Syria. Now an al-Qaeda breakaway group that benefited from some of the funding has stormed across a wide swath of Iraq, and Gulf nations fear its extremism could be a threat to them as well.

Those countries are now trying to put the brakes on the network of private fundraisers sending money to the rebel movement, hoping to halt the financing going to the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. But at the same time, they sharply oppose any US military assistance to Iraq's Shiite-led government aimed at stopping the extremists' rapid advance - and are furious at the possibility Washington could cooperate with their top rival Iran to help Iraq

Their stance reflects the complex tangle of national rivalries and sectarian enmities in the region. Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, along with its Gulf allies, have had the primary goal of stopping the influence of mainly Shiite Iran in the Middle East, and they deeply oppose Iran's ally, Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom they accuse of discriminating against his country's Sunni minority.

They are torn over the Islamic State's stunning victories. They would be happy if the insurgency forces the removal of al-Maliki and his replacement with a more Sunni-friendly government. But long term, they fear the Islamic State or other radicals inspired by it could eventually turn their weapons against the Gulf's pro-Western monarchies. And they are alarmed that its power could increase Iran's role in Iraq - a scenario already realised with top Iranian military figures in Baghdad helping organise the army.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/saudi-kuwaiti-groups-helped-create-islamist-monster-in-iraq-they-cant-control-20140619-zse0n.html

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bemildred

(90,061 posts)
1. After backing Sunni rebels in Syria, Gulf nations face blowback in militant campaign in Iraq
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 06:43 PM
Jun 2014

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Saudi Arabia and other petro-powerhouses of the Gulf for years encouraged a flow of private cash to Sunni rebels in Syria. Now an al-Qaida breakaway group that benefited from some of the funding has stormed across a wide swath of Iraq, and Gulf nations fear its extremism could be a threat to them as well.

Those countries are now trying to put the brakes on the network of private fundraisers sending money to the rebel movement, hoping to halt the financing going to the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. But at the same time, they sharply oppose any U.S. military assistance to Iraq's Shiite-led government aimed at stopping the extremists' rapid advance — and are furious at the possibility Washington could co-operate with their top rival Iran to help Iraq.

Their stance reflects the complex tangle of national rivalries and sectarian enmities in the region. Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, along with its Gulf allies, have had the primary goal of stopping the influence of mainly Shiite Iran in the Middle East, and they deeply oppose Iran's ally, Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom they accuse of discriminating against his country's Sunni minority.

They are torn over the Islamic State's stunning victories. They would be happy if the insurgency forces the removal of al-Maliki and his replacement with a more Sunni-friendly government. But long term, they fear the Islamic State or other radicals inspired by it could eventually turn their weapons against the Gulf's pro-Western monarchies. And they are alarmed that its power could increase Iran's role in Iraq — a scenario already realized with top Iranian military figures in Baghdad helping organize the army.

http://www.canada.com/news/After+backing+Sunni+rebels+Syria+Gulf+nations+face+blowback+militant/9950992/story.html

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
3. They always expect them to stay bought.
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 06:46 PM
Jun 2014

I was ruminating a couple days ago on how many of these tin-pot politicians overestimate their degree of control over events. Hubris is not just for Neocons.

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
5. I've been wondering, Sir, when these fellows might turn their eyes a bit farther South.
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 06:49 PM
Jun 2014

Towards the Saudi Kingdom, seems like rich pickings down there to me.

The Magistrate

(95,237 posts)
6. That Place Has Been Flashing Green On The Vik-O-Meter For A Long Time, Sir
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 07:03 PM
Jun 2014

Western powers were a bit chary of the consequences of forcing into Mecca ( though one doubts the old Romans would have flinched from it ), but co-religionists have no need of such scruple. Iran's mullahs made a bit of a stab at it shortly after Khomeini took over. I have no doubt the I.S.I.L. people regard Arabia's current rulers as hopelessly corrupt and unworthy guardians of the holy places.

Worth note that the House of Saud owes its present prominence to a fundamentalist rising ( with the English for a time giving subsidies to both the Hashemites at Mecca and I'bn Saud and his Ikwah ): the present borders of Iraq and Jordan with Saudi Arabia are pretty much where the RAF stopped I'bn Saud driving north in 1922 or thereabouts....

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
7. That's what I was thinking.
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 07:38 PM
Jun 2014

And they look ripe for the picking now too.

I do find it odd to be in agreement with ISIL about something.

But anyway, I've been waiting for Saudi Arabia to blow up for a long time now. These ISIL guys just might do the job.

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
4. Isis breach of Iraq-Syria border merges two wars into one 'nightmarish reality'
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 06:48 PM
Jun 2014

Under a burning sun, fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) sang and waved their automatic weapons and black jihadi flags as they celebrated breaching the lonely desert frontier between Iraq and Syria.

To the soundtrack of a haunting Quranic chant, they watched as a bulldozer burst through a sand berm separating Nineveh in Iraq from the neighbouring Syrian province of al Hassaka, followed by US-made Jeeps and Humvees with Iraqi army insignia that had been captured in the recent fighting.

The slick Isis propaganda machine sent the images out under the Twitter hashtag #SykesPicotOver – a gloating reference to the first world war Anglo-French agreement that secretly carved up the territories of the dying Ottoman Empire into British and French spheres of influence and (among others) new Arab nation states ruled from Baghdad and Damascus.

Yet jihadi advances are not only erasing the old borders and allowing Isis to claim it is in reach of its goal of creating a new Muslim caliphate, but also ensuring that the wars for Syria and Iraq have merged into one, each feeding on, affecting and sustaining the other.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/18/isis-iraq-syria-two-wars-one-nightmare

Jesus Malverde

(10,274 posts)
8. I suspect it's not an accident that bandar bush
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 01:06 AM
Jun 2014

Was not mentioned in the article. It likely strikes too close to home and would expose the reality of US involvement to daylight.

The recent frontline documentary leaves no doubt the CIA is training hard core jihadists, the same ones killing our troops.

It's truly a WTF moment.



bemildred

(90,061 posts)
10. It's been Alice-in-Wonderlandy for quite a while now.
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 08:28 AM
Jun 2014

Last edited Thu Jun 19, 2014, 10:38 AM - Edit history (1)

What is new is the overtness of the way in which various clever parties are hoist on their own petards now.

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
11. Saudi Arabia: 'This is Iraq’s problem and they must sort it out themselves'
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 01:04 PM
Jun 2014

Iraq crisis: Britain and US must not meddle in Iraq, warns Saudi Arabia - live

There are three things that the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia strives for above all others: peace, stability and security, for the international community, for our region, and for our country and our people, whether they are old or young, men or women, Sunni or Shia. These are the cornerstones of our government and at the foundation of our thinking.

The escalating and alarming situation in Iraq is of serious concern to us. These are our neighbours, our friends, and we watch with distress as this terrible situation escalates next to us.

As our foreign minister, HRH Prince Saud al-Faisal, told the Islamic Conference of regional leaders in Jeddah this week, “this grave situation… carries with it signs of civil war that has implications for the region we cannot fathom”. The number of the dead is mounting into the hundreds, maybe thousands, with many thousands of ordinary Iraqi citizens being displaced. These are people who have suffered enough – too much, indeed. Their families have withstood a long war with Iran, a violent and repressive regime under Saddam Hussein and the ensuing civil war, before an uneasy peace was brokered less than a decade ago.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/10911559/Saudi-Arabia-This-is-Iraqs-problem-and-they-must-sort-it-out-themselves.html

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