IS BAGHDAD UNDER SEIGE BY ISIL??? Today’s news report that Baghdad was rocked by 3 suicide boomers that killed 30 people and wounded 80 are ominous indications that ISIL is at the gates of the US Embassy. Despite the airborne defensive efforts by the United States and coalition of the willing, their high-tech bombing initiative to minimize if not halt the ground advances of ISI, is apparently falling far short of its purpose… Baghdad is the largest city in Iraq and stronghold of the United States and it is the venue of America’s newest and largest embassy in the world. Should the forces of ISIL mount a consequential assault on Baghdad the United States will have one of two options. 1. Thousands of Americans and support people will have to be evacuated. 2. American boots on the ground would be a foregone conclusion, if the US intended to protect economic and strategic interests in Iraq. Concomitantly, Assad’s forces in Syria are apparently on their heels as ISIL’s military advances have yet to be pushed back by the deployment of barrel bombs from Assad, and America’s air power coalition. ISIL’s military offensive is very successful on two separate battle fronts (Syria & Iraq), and notwithstanding the concerted effort of the United States, the west and regional stakeholders, ISIL marches on… The US and regional payers are offering much political rhetoric and obfuscation, but at some point in the near future a full disclosure will emerge somehow and set aside the patent misinformation and pervasive confusion. The fluidity of this world crisis in particular has animated all sectors, and there is never a dull moment. The goals and objectives of ISIL have been very cogently articulated and their disciplined and unequivocal actions leave no room for misunderstanding or ambiguity. On the other hand, the response from the relevant western and regional countries has not yet adequately met the present and critical challenges to the geo-political status quo… Moreover, the United States, the west and relevant regional players seem to be in clinical denial concerning the far reaching implications associated with the unfolding facts on the ground. In the balance, citizens of the United States and elsewhere in the world remain perplexed and bewildered, without context or perspective. It is generally acknowledged that the ISIL phenomenon is based on a 1400 year schism that bi-furcated the Islam into Sunni and Shea, because of a succession controversy. Despite this medieval sectarian schism, Islam has been able prosper and grow to the extent that there are more than 1.5 billion Muslims in the world and Islam is the fastest growing faith in the western world. Islam enjoys a glorious heritage in terms of being a religion of tolerance and peaceful coexistence between, Judaism and Christianity and has an auspicious legacy of scholarship, literature and intellectual development. For example Spain was under Islamic rule from the 8th to the 15th centuries, when in 1492 the victorious Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand returned Spain into the Roman Catholic orbit. However, during that extensive period under Islamic rule, Christians and Jews of Spain prospered and lived with religious tolerance and in peace. And Islam made stunning contributions to world scholarship, literature and intellectual advancement during this hallmark period. Interestingly enough, contemporary Jewish historians credit the centuries living under Islamic rule as being the “golden age” of Jewry. On the contrary, when Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand return Spain to Roman Catholic rule, the Jews were promptly deported, converted forcefully or summarily killed. Subsequently, the voyages of Columbus to the “New World” was financed and authorized, and the rest is colorful and controversial history… But there are some important points to be made relative to the subject at hand, in terms of the unfolding ISIL challenge. The ISIL religious juggernaut is essentially a phenomenon that is occurring exclusively in the Arab ethnic community. But the Arabic Muslim community is only a very small segment of the amount of Muslims in the world. Indonesia for example is the most populous Muslim country in the world, and they outnumber all of the Muslims in the Gulf States combined. There are more than 150 million Muslims in India, not to mention other South Asian populations as well as the many Muslims in Eastern Europe. Obviously the vast majority of Muslims are not subscribing to, or enlisting in the sectarian divide, and the escalating schism among Arab Muslims seems to be about to reach critical mass. At the end of the day, the sectarian war between the competing contingents must be resolved internally, perhaps in the context of a religious reformation. Unfortunately, at this point the Islamic countries in the target region are ambivalent to face up to the overriding facts on the ground and the internal challenges that they must deal with in the foreseeable future. This writer is reluctant to think that the regional stakeholders are waiting for America’s lead before committing to defending their future, religion and homeland… It is not hard to imagine that the ISIL power players behind the scene have already positioned the relevant gulf state leaders as assets of the west hence, the eventual showdown between them and the Sunni-Muslim extremist juggernaut appears to be a foregone conclusion. America’s bottom line and that of the western powers are economic, strategic and geo-political. They do not have organic links to this unfolding medieval saga apart from their bottom line, by way of “black gold” international shipping lanes, and long range political projections. Nevertheless, the United States and the western powers seem to be preoccupied with protecting their bottom lines and strategic position on the planet… The situation remains fluid and the world is virtually on the edge of their seats…
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 07:42:34 +0000
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