Saturday, December 19, 2015
MUSLIM COUNTRIES FORCED BY SAUDI REGIME TO JOIN ITS MILITARY ALLIANCE
The recently announced Saudi-led so called ‘coalition against terrorism’ is facing collapse after being announced by the Riyadh regime with major Islamic nations such as Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia saying they were not consulted.
It has emerged that many countries were included in an alliance while they had never agreed to take part in the alliance.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced the creation of an ‘Islamic military alliance’ with a mission to fight terrorism. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the coalition of 34 Muslim states would fight the scourge in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan and several other African and Persian Gulf states form the coalition. Saudi state television said the headquarters of the alliance will be based in Riyadh.
Pakistan surprised by Saudi move
Talking to journalists, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said he was surprised to read the news that Saudi Arabia had named Pakistan as part of the alliance.
He said he had asked the country’s ambassador in Riyadh to get a clarification from Saudi Arabia on the matter.
Another senior official also confirmed that Pakistan was not consulted before inclusion in the alliance.
This is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has named Pakistan as part of its military alliances without Islamabad’s knowledge and consent. The Saudis earlier named Pakistan as part of the coalition that carried out operations in Yemen and a Pakistani flag was displayed at the alliance’s media centre. Pakistan later declined to join the Yemen war.
Malaysia will not join Saudi alliance
Malaysia, another Muslim country which was put by Riyadh in the list of the 34 participants, also denied taking part in the military alliance. Malaysian Defense Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein told journalists that Kuala Lumpur will not join Riyadh, however it will continue to be part of the international fight against terrorism, the Rakyat Post reported.
Indonesia does not want a military alliance
Indonesia, a country with the world’s largest Muslim population, said that it was approached by Saudi Arabia concerning anti-terrorism cooperation, however it needs details before considering to join a ‘military alliance.’
Armanatha Nasir, Foreign Ministry spokesman said it is “important for Indonesia to first have details before deciding to support” any military actions, he said.
However, Indonesian Chief Security Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said later, as quoted by Reuters: "We don't want to join a military alliance."
Russia wants Saudis to give specifics
Russia has said it wants more specific details on Riyadh’s initiative. “We expect to receive more detailed information from the initiators of this process as well as we would want to know more about what was discussed in Paris yesterday,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying on Wednesday.
Foreign ministers from the US, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Turkey met in Paris on Monday to discuss the Syrian crisis ahead of the talks in New York on Friday that would include Russia.
Russia has been conducting its own airstrikes targeting ISIS terrorists and other terrorist groups in Syria since September 30. The strikes were launched at the formal request of Damascus. The Russian-led operation also involves coordinating its efforts with regional governments, including those of Syria, Iran and Iraq, which is known as the RSII coalition.
Lebanon joined Saudi coalition through phone call
In a statement on Tuesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam stressed that he welcomes Lebanon joining the alliance.
Prior to Salam's statement, Al-Manar TV Website had a phone call with the Lebanese Minister of Labor, Sajaan Qazzi, who strongly denied being aware of the news, stating that, "I have communicated with the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, and he told me that he had no knowledge of the subject."
"We do not accept to join any religious alliances," said Qazzi, but soon the statement of the prime minister was issued to declare that Lebanon has joined the alliance via a "phone call," without turning to the constitutional frameworks!
According to the Lebanese constitution, Lebanon joining a military alliance requires the approval of the Council of Ministers of a treaty to be presented later before the Parliament to be duly approved.
Considering the foregoing it is quite clear that most if not all countries in the so called Saudi-anti terrorism alliance have been listed without prior consultation.
Russian officials doubt effectiveness of Saudi-led alliance
Elsewhere a Russian lawmaker has expressed doubts about the effectiveness of a newly-formed Saudi-led coalition allegedly set up to counter terrorism.
Konstantin Kosachyov, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of Russia, the upper house of the parliament, expressed regret in message posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday that Iran and Iraq are absent from the alliance.
Without the participation of Tehran and Baghdad, “in any case, it is impossible to speak about the coalition's ability to act and its efficiency,” Kosachyov stated.
“I would like to remind you that Russia is actively cooperating with these countries (Iran and Iraq), and our joint actions are admittedly more effective than those made earlier by another 'coalition' - a US-led one,” the Russian official said.
It is worth noting that there was no conference to lay the groundwork for the new alliance, and no resources have been committed to it by members, ranging from indebted Chad to war-torn Libya and Somalia.
The alliance appears to be a personal project of Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who is seeking to bolster the monarchy’s status regionally.
Saudi Arabia claims to have formed an alliance to fight terrorism while it is a known fact that it is one of the main supporters of Takfiri terrorists groups especially ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
The recently announced Saudi-led so called ‘coalition against terrorism’ is facing collapse after being announced by the Riyadh regime with major Islamic nations such as Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia saying they were not consulted.
It has emerged that many countries were included in an alliance while they had never agreed to take part in the alliance.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced the creation of an ‘Islamic military alliance’ with a mission to fight terrorism. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the coalition of 34 Muslim states would fight the scourge in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan and several other African and Persian Gulf states form the coalition. Saudi state television said the headquarters of the alliance will be based in Riyadh.
Pakistan surprised by Saudi move
Talking to journalists, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said he was surprised to read the news that Saudi Arabia had named Pakistan as part of the alliance.
He said he had asked the country’s ambassador in Riyadh to get a clarification from Saudi Arabia on the matter.
Another senior official also confirmed that Pakistan was not consulted before inclusion in the alliance.
This is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has named Pakistan as part of its military alliances without Islamabad’s knowledge and consent. The Saudis earlier named Pakistan as part of the coalition that carried out operations in Yemen and a Pakistani flag was displayed at the alliance’s media centre. Pakistan later declined to join the Yemen war.
Malaysia will not join Saudi alliance
Malaysia, another Muslim country which was put by Riyadh in the list of the 34 participants, also denied taking part in the military alliance. Malaysian Defense Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein told journalists that Kuala Lumpur will not join Riyadh, however it will continue to be part of the international fight against terrorism, the Rakyat Post reported.
Indonesia does not want a military alliance
Indonesia, a country with the world’s largest Muslim population, said that it was approached by Saudi Arabia concerning anti-terrorism cooperation, however it needs details before considering to join a ‘military alliance.’
Armanatha Nasir, Foreign Ministry spokesman said it is “important for Indonesia to first have details before deciding to support” any military actions, he said.
However, Indonesian Chief Security Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said later, as quoted by Reuters: "We don't want to join a military alliance."
Russia wants Saudis to give specifics
Russia has said it wants more specific details on Riyadh’s initiative. “We expect to receive more detailed information from the initiators of this process as well as we would want to know more about what was discussed in Paris yesterday,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying on Wednesday.
Foreign ministers from the US, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Turkey met in Paris on Monday to discuss the Syrian crisis ahead of the talks in New York on Friday that would include Russia.
Russia has been conducting its own airstrikes targeting ISIS terrorists and other terrorist groups in Syria since September 30. The strikes were launched at the formal request of Damascus. The Russian-led operation also involves coordinating its efforts with regional governments, including those of Syria, Iran and Iraq, which is known as the RSII coalition.
Lebanon joined Saudi coalition through phone call
In a statement on Tuesday, Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam stressed that he welcomes Lebanon joining the alliance.
Prior to Salam's statement, Al-Manar TV Website had a phone call with the Lebanese Minister of Labor, Sajaan Qazzi, who strongly denied being aware of the news, stating that, "I have communicated with the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, and he told me that he had no knowledge of the subject."
"We do not accept to join any religious alliances," said Qazzi, but soon the statement of the prime minister was issued to declare that Lebanon has joined the alliance via a "phone call," without turning to the constitutional frameworks!
According to the Lebanese constitution, Lebanon joining a military alliance requires the approval of the Council of Ministers of a treaty to be presented later before the Parliament to be duly approved.
Considering the foregoing it is quite clear that most if not all countries in the so called Saudi-anti terrorism alliance have been listed without prior consultation.
Russian officials doubt effectiveness of Saudi-led alliance
Elsewhere a Russian lawmaker has expressed doubts about the effectiveness of a newly-formed Saudi-led coalition allegedly set up to counter terrorism.
Konstantin Kosachyov, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of Russia, the upper house of the parliament, expressed regret in message posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday that Iran and Iraq are absent from the alliance.
Without the participation of Tehran and Baghdad, “in any case, it is impossible to speak about the coalition's ability to act and its efficiency,” Kosachyov stated.
“I would like to remind you that Russia is actively cooperating with these countries (Iran and Iraq), and our joint actions are admittedly more effective than those made earlier by another 'coalition' - a US-led one,” the Russian official said.
It is worth noting that there was no conference to lay the groundwork for the new alliance, and no resources have been committed to it by members, ranging from indebted Chad to war-torn Libya and Somalia.
The alliance appears to be a personal project of Defense Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who is seeking to bolster the monarchy’s status regionally.
Saudi Arabia claims to have formed an alliance to fight terrorism while it is a known fact that it is one of the main supporters of Takfiri terrorists groups especially ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/saudi-arab/item/20213-muslim-countries-forced-by-saudi-regime-to-join-its-military-alliance
HERE’S THE ARTICLE ON SAUDI ARABIA THAT AL JAZEERA BLOCKED
https://theintercept.com/
This article was published by Al Jazeera America on December 3. Al Jazeera’s headquarters in Qatar appear to have blocked the article outside of the United States because it is critical of an ally of Qatar, so we are making it available here to international readers. Read our accompanying piece, Al Jazeera Blocks Anti-Saudi Arabia Article.
Saudi Arabia Uses Terrorism As An Excuse for Human Rights Abuses
By Arjun Sethi
Reports emerged last week that Saudi Arabia intends to imminently execute more than 50 people on a single day for alleged terrorist crimes.
Although the kingdom hasn’t officially confirmed the reports, the evidence is building. Okas, the first outlet to publish the report, has close ties to the Saudi Ministry of Interior and would not have published the story without obtaining government consent. Some of the prisoners slated for execution were likewise recently subject to an unscheduled medical exam, a sign that many believe portends imminent execution. There has already been a spike in capital punishment in Saudi Arabia this year, with at least 151 executions, compared with 90 for all of 2014.
The cases of six Shia activists from Awamiya, a largely Shia town in the oil-rich Eastern province, are particularly disconcerting. The majority of Saudi’s minority Shia population is concentrated in the Eastern province and has long faced government persecution. The six activists were convicted for protesting this mistreatment and other related crimes amid the Arab uprisings in 2011. Three of them were arrested when they were juveniles. Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shia religious leader who was convicted of similar charges, also faces imminent execution.
All the convictions were obtained through unfair trials marred by human and civil rights violations, including in some cases torture, forced confessions and lack of access to counsel. Each defendant was tried before the Specialized Criminal Court, a counterterrorism tribunal controlled by the Ministry of Interior that has few procedural safeguards and is often used to persecute political dissidents. Lawyers are generally prohibited from counseling their clients during interrogation and have limited participatory rights at trial. Prosecutors aren’t even required to disclose the charges and relevant evidence to defendants.
The problems aren’t just procedural. Saudi law criminalizes dissent and the expression of fundamental civil rights. Under an anti-terrorism law passed in 2014, for example, individuals may be executed for vague acts such as participating in or inciting protests, “contact or correspondence with any groups … or individuals hostile to the kingdom” or “calling for atheist thought.”
One of the defendants, Ali al-Nimr, was convicted of crimes such as “breaking allegiance with the ruler” and “going out to a number of marches, demonstrations and gathering against the state and repeating some chants against the state.” For these offenses, he has been sentenced to beheading and crucifixion, with his beheaded body to be put on public display as a warning to others.
Because of these procedural and legal abominations, the planned executions for these Shia activists must not proceed. They should be retried in public proceedings and afforded due process protections consistent with international law, which includes a ban on the death penalty for anyone under the age of 18.
No other executions should take place in Saudi Arabia. Capital punishment is morally repugnant and rife with error and bias, as we know all too well in the United States. Moreover, any outcome produced by the Saudi criminal justice system is inherently suspect. Inadequate due process, violations of basic human rights and draconian laws that criminalize petty offenses and exercising of civil rights are fixtures of Saudi rule.
They’re also fixtures of authoritarian regimes in general. Those who simply expect Saudi Arabia to reform its criminal justice system ignore the fact that the kingdom is an authoritarian regime that uses the law as a tool to maintain and consolidate power. They also ignore the reality that Saudi Arabia often escapes moral condemnation in large part because of its close relationship with the U.S.
In 2014, for example, President Barack Obama visited the kingdom but made no mention of its ongoing human rights violations. In return, he and the first family received $1.4 million in gifts from the Saudi king. (By law U.S. presidents must either pay for such gifts or turn them over to the National Archives.) The two leaders discussed energy security and military intelligence, shared interests that have connected the U.S. and Saudi Arabia for nearly a century.
Obama traveled to the kingdom earlier this year to offer his condolences on the passing of King Abdullah and to meet with the new ruler, King Salman. Again, human rights were never mentioned. Instead, U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice tweeted that Abdullah was a “close and valued friend of the United States.”
This deafening silence is not lost on Saudi Arabia and has emboldened its impunity. In the wake of the Arab uprisings, the kingdom’s brutal campaign against its Shia minority and political opposition has deepened. Shias have limited access to government employment and public education, few rights under the criminal justice system and diminished religious rights. Those who protest this discrimination face arbitrary trial and the prospect of execution for terrorism. Consider that Saudi Arabia has not carried out a mass execution for terrorism-related offenses since 1980, a year after an armed group occupied the Grand Mosque of Mecca.
Dissent of any kind is quelled. In November, Ashraf Fayadh, a Palestinian poet and artist born in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to death for allegedly renouncing Islam. His supporters allege that he’s being punished for posting a video of police lashing a man in public.
Even the kingdom’s neighbors aren’t immune from its authoritarian agenda. Numerous reports suggest that the Saudi-led coalition against opposition groups in Yemen has indiscriminately attacked civilians and used cluster bombs in civilian-populated areas, in violation of international law.
Despite its appalling human rights record, Saudi Arabia was awarded a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council last year and this summer was selected to oversee an influential committee within the council that appoints officials to report on country-specific and thematic human rights challenges. Unsurprisingly, Saudi Arabia has used its newfound power tothwart an international inquiry into allegations that it committed war crimes in Yemen.
It’s not by happenstance that the kingdom announced the mass execution just days after 130 people were killed in Paris in the worst terrorist attacks in Europe in more than a decade. Even before Paris, the U.S. used its “war on terrorism” to invade and occupy Afghanistan and Iraq, engage in mass surveillance and develop an assassination program immune from judicial oversight. Is it any surprise that Saudi Arabia feels emboldened to intensify its own “war on terrorism”?
Al-Jazeera blocks article slamming Saudi Arabian human rights record
The Qatar-based news network, Al-Jazeera, has prevented an article slamming human rights in Saudi Arabia from being viewed outside the US.
The article, titled “Saudi Arabia Uses Terrorism as an Excuse for Human Rights Abuses” and published on Al-Jazeera America’s website on 3 December, cites reports 50 people are intended to be executed for alleged terrorist crimes, injustices in the treatment of Saudi’s minority Shia population and criticises the country’s relationship with the US.
The article is understood to still be available in the US, but when viewed in other countries is replaced with an error page.
A tweet from Al-Jazeera America’s account with the article’s headline, pictured on a Bahraini website, appears to have been deleted, while the Saudi Arabian newspaper Okaz quotes Al-Jazeera's director apologising for the article, The Interceptreports.
The article, written by Arjun Sethi, a human rights lawyer and professor of law at George Town University, has been reprinted by The Intercept.
Many of the criticisms in Mr Sethi’s piece have been internationally reported in the media. They include a sharp increase in Saudi executions this year - according to Amnesty International over 150 people have been killed in 2015; the sentencing to death of Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh for “apostasy”; and allegations Saudi Arabian air strikes in Yemenhave killed civilians.
Mr Sethi also critiques the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US, writing: “Saudi Arabia often escapes moral condemnation in large part because of its close relationship with the US."
Mr Sethi refers to the blocked article on Twitter saying: “I’m not afraid of the Saudi regime. The only thing I am afraid of is my conscience. I will not submit to censorship.”
Arjun Sethi
I'm not afraid of the Saudi regime. The only thing I'm afraid of is my conscience. I will not submit to censorship. https://theintercept.com/2015/12/18/al-jazeera-blocks-anti-saudi-arabia-article/ …
Al-Jazeera, a Qatar-based state-funded broadcaster launched in 1996, has gained credibility for its seemingly independent news coverage.
The news network is now one of the largest in the world with 80 bureaus across the globe.
It is partly funded by the House of Thani, the ruling family of Qatar, and assertions from Al-Jazeera officials that the organisation is editorially independent from the Qatar government have been contested.
According to The Economist, Al-Jazeera has been criticised by Arab viewers for bolstering its coverage of Qatari-backed rebel fighters in Libya and Syria and the Qatar-aligned Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. It has also been accused of ignoring human-rights abuses by those same rebels.
In 2013, 22 Al-Jazeera staff in Egypt resigned over the organization's supposed bias toward the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Qatar monarchy, ruled by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is allied with Saudi Arabia against the Syrian government and is part of Saudi Arabia’s campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Referring to the article, Al-Jazeera’s headquarters in Doha toldThe Intercept: “After hearing from users from different locations across the world that several of our web pages were unavailable, we have begun investigating what the source of the problem may be and we hope to have it resolved shortly.”
The Independent has contacted Al-Jazeera and Al-Jazeera America for comment.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/al-jazeera-block-article-slamming-saudi-arabian-human-rights-record-a6779596.html
Spotlight: Peace in the Middle East still a distant dream in new year
Rarely before has the region faced so many crises on so many fronts all at the same time, and rarely before has its troubles been so entangled with the rest of the world.
As efforts by world powers to deal with some of the region's most inextricable ills, like the rampant spread of terror threats and surging exodus of refugees, drag on into the new year, chances for real peace seem as slim as ever.
SCRAMBLE FOR POLITICAL SOLUTIONS
One encouraging sign, however, is the almost parallel tracks seeking political solutions to the wars in Syria, Yemen and Libya, which have killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions more.
For the Libya track, the rival sides have signed in Morocco a final peace deal, thus stipulating the goal of a steady political transition and forming a national unity government.
But many skeptical observers believe that the negotiations lack strong consensus among the warring factions and are imposed from the outside. They also doubt the sustainability of such a new unity government, saying it is built in a rush and has excluded many tribes that supported late leader Muammar Gaddafi.
In Syria, a myriad of opposition entities are grouping themselves up at the urge of their backers, particularly the United States, some European nations, and the Gulf Arab monarchs.
After a two-day meeting in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, the rebels agreed that they are ready for UN-sponsored negotiations early next year with representatives from Damascus, although they still insist on the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
Things also seem to have started getting real on the ground. Under a cease-fire agreement with the government, rebels have begun to withdraw from the city of Homs, their last stronghold in central Syria, and cede its control to the authorities.
However, Mr. Assad, in a recent interview, said he would not negotiate with armed groups, accusing Saudi Arabia and the United States of wanting "terrorists" to join the ranks of negotiators. He believes that anyone in his country who holds a machine gun is a "terrorist."
In Yemen, a week-long and extendable truce under UN auspices has begun on Tuesday, yet fighting continued between the Shiite Houthi group and President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi's loyalists, which are back by a Saudi-led coalition.
Observers believe that Saudi Arabia is now being trying to extricate itself from an embarrassing and costly quagmire brought on by an air campaign and later ground operations against Houthi fighters in Yemen, as steadily dropping oil prices further drain its coffers.
At a meeting earlier this month, also in Riyadh, of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), there was already talk of rebuilding the ravaged southern neighbor.
The cease-fire and the recent UN-sponsored talks in Switzerland have come as no warring factions could emerge victorious after more than a year of civil war that has caused an alarming humanitarian crisis in one of the world's most impoverished countries, and a horrifying prospect that terrorist groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State (IS) could harness the chaos and solidify their hold on Yemen as a launch pad for more terrorist attacks.
However, no light has been shed so far on whether the Houthis and those loyal to President Hadi have any possibility to figure out an acceptable and functional power-sharing plan, the key sticking point that has brought the nation into war in the first place and obfuscated many rounds of previous peace attempts and cease-fires.
COALITION OF UNWILLING
The discords among the regional and world powers which are running the Middle East's war on terror, particularly battles against the IS militants, are likely to linger in the coming year, and overshadow prospects to restore tranquility in the troubled region.
The western powers have entered the fight reluctantly. The rise of IS has also distracted their regime-change scheme in Syria, and spoiled the Obama administration's perceived strategic retreat from the Middle East.
For more than a year since the advent of a so-called international coalition, Washington, its European allies, as well as the wealthy Arab nations have been tiptoeing on the issue of sending in ground troops, knowing all too well the likely military and political prices of inevitable casualties for another Mideast adventure. They also worry that having boots on the ground would further instigate Arab nations' antagonism against the West.
With Russia joining the fight and Saudi's most recent move to form its own 34-member anti-IS group, three alliances are now in place and are poorly coordinated, which is only good news for the terrorists.
Talaat Musallam, former Egyptian army general and security expert, said international cooperation to combat the IS group is "so weak" and an international anti-terrorism center should be established to collect and share information and draft rules on ways to defeat terrorism legally.
Nevertheless, the Nov. 13 Paris terrorist attacks and the downing of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt's Sinai on Oct. 31, both claimed by the IS, appear to have dragged some world powers closer. French President Francois Hollande visited Moscow to seek anti-IS cooperation with the Kremlin. Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country has provided air cover and weapons to Free Syrian Army, a Western-backed leading opposition group.
POWERS' GAME
Like it or not, the powers now hurtled into the same trench fighting Islamic State would first put their own interests, geopolitical or others, in their calculations, which might further complicate the situation in the region.
The Western powers are now in a hurry to contain the spillover of the Syrian civil war that has lasted for almost five years. There is now strong consensus among major powers on a political solution to the long-running crisis.
The UN Security Council on Friday adopted a resolution, in which it calls for talks between the government and the oppositions to start next month, while the UN will help implement and monitor a nationwide cease-fire. However, the oppositions criticized the resolution for not requiring Assad's departure.
Over the fate of Assad, Washington has been a little bit inconsistent recently.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry surprised the world by saying earlier this week in Moscow that Washington and its partners are not seeking regime change in Syria, adding that Syrians will be making decisions for the future of the country. Yet only several days later U.S. President Barack Obama told his end-of-the-year news conference that Assad has lost legitimacy and has to go.
The incoherence has reflected the reticence of the Obama administration. On one hand, it wants to work with Russia in cracking down on the terrorists, while on the other it worries that letting Assad stay would benefit Iran and Russia, staunch supporters of Syria's sitting president, and further alienate Gulf Arab allies which have already been critical of the Iran nuclear deal.
Russia also has its own calculations. The Kremlin hopes to transform the IS fight into a chance to expand its influence in the Middle East, and to fix its ties with the West that were chilled over Ukraine, as well as to weaken the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and some European nations.
Also joining the fray is Turkey.
Its downing of a Russian war jet late November over Syrian airspace has plunged the Ankara-Moscow relationship to a historical low, further complicating the whole anti-IS game. Some observers say Turkey shot down the Russian fighter plane in retaliation for Russian bombing of Syria's Turkmen opposition fighters, which are backed by Ankara.
Turkey's recent move to dispatch more troops to northern Iraq, which angered the central government in Baghdad, is seen by some as aiming to consolidate its presence in anticipation of a post-IS Iraq. Ankara said the reinforcements were sent there to help train Iraqi Kurds fighting IS.
If there is any lesson from the past experience about peace-making in the Middle East, it is that one should never hope for miracles or silver bullets, but rather stay alarmed, pragmatic and patient.
As the Mideast is about to enter the new year, more nightmarish scenarios may well be lurching in the corner. The peace talks on Syria, Yemen and Libya could collapse, while the civil wars could escalate. Western powers could further stretch their legs in the region without offering serious and coherent strategies to curb and eliminate the menaces of hovering terrorism.
And peace between Israel and the Palestinians also appears to be as deadlocked as ever.
The history of the Middle East brooks no optimism, but pessimism is no excuse for inaction, especially at a time when the world faces a common scourge -- the likes of IS terrorists.
In Moscow on Tuesday for talks centered on Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sounded upbeat.
"I think the world benefits when powerful nations with a long history with each other have the ability to be able to find common ground," Kerry said at the start of a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
Let us hope that the United States and Russia could lead by example, work for the common good of the human race, and help nudge the Middle East a little closer to peace.
Op-ed V on the Philippines' South China Sea Arbitration Farce
