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U.S. and Russia to Go After ISIS's Al-Baghdadi
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
July 1, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
United States and Russia have their differences
on many topics but they’re on the same page when it comes to Islamic extremism. Sept. 11 forever changed U.S. policy
toward terrorism, no longer making exceptions for Palestinians or anyone else. Now the Islamic State of Iraq and
Levant have declared a sovereign caliphate in lands seized in Iraq, Syria and
Jordan, the U.S. and Russian have jumped to the aid of Iraq, both for different
reasons. When you consider that
President Barack Obama defied Moscow’s wishes and backed toppling Syria’s Bashar
al-Assad, it looks like Russian President Vladimir Putin is the wiser of the
two. Putin tried to reason with
Obama that deposing al-Assad would open the floodgates of Islamic extremism the
same way it happened in Iraq. After
hearing ISIS’s press release about 42-year-old Abu Bakr Baghdadi’s new
caliphate, Russia and the U.S. have a common enemy.
When Osama bin Laden began menacing the U.S. in the months and years
after the Soviet Union pulled out of Afghanistan Feb. 15, 1989, it threw the
George H.W. administration for a loop.
While the Reagan administration had its problems with terrorism in the
April 18, 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut killing 63 U.S. citizens,
Oct. 23, 1983 trucking-bombing of Marine Baracks in Beirut, killing 241 U.S.
soldiers, Dec. 21, 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland,
killing 270 passengers and crew, it didn’t occur to CIA that one criminal in
Osama bin Laden directed the mayhem.
Now al-Baghdadi replaces al-Qaeda’s 64-year-old Egyptian-born former
Muslim Brotherhood’s Ayman al-Zawahri as Public Enemy No. 1. It took former President Bill Clinton too long after the first 1993 bombing of the World
Trade Center to accept the U.S. was at war with Bin Laden.
U.S. and Russia needs to put aside problems in Ukraine and all the
punitive sanctions to focus their attention on ISIS’s 42-year-old homicidal
maniac al-Baghdadi who has now declared himself the second coming of Mohammed. Psychotic mass killers like Hitler
and, more recently, Bin Laden cannot be placated but dealt with appropriately by
the civilized world. “The Islamic
State took total control of Albu Kamal in [the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor],
after fierce fighting pitting it against rebels backed by Al-Qaeda affiliate
Al-Nusra Front,” said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Taking over more territory in Iraq,
Syria and Jordan, they have too much on their plates to stop ISIS from seizing
more territory. Al-Baghdadi’s
radical rampage can only be stopped by a coordinated international effort,
pitting the world’s strongest militaries against al-Baghdadi’s mujahedeen
terrorists.
Watching more sovereign lands seized by ISIS and annexed into
al-Baghdadi’s new caliphate can’t be tolerated by any U.N. state. U.N. Secretary Gen. Ban Ki-Moon must denounce al-Baghdadi murderous rampage, asking world
powers to commit the necessary resources to stop ISIS. Al-Baghdadi has battled al-Qaeda’s
al-Nusra Front in Deir Ezzor province for months leading to ISIS’s eventual
victory. “The battle was fierce . .
. But ISIS has won this round,” said Omar Abu Leyla, spokesman for Deir Ezzor
province. ISIS benefited from the
“heavy weapons” seized from the Iraqi military to battle al-Nusra and seize
control. ISIS’s gains in Iraq force
Obama to send an initial 700 special forces to secure the U.S. embassy and plan
a counterinsurgency strategy. If
the U.S. would partner with Russia, ISIS would be driven into retreat in short
order to deal with the Mideast’s new menace.
Al-Baghdadi preaches the same insane rhetoric as Bin Laden to establish a
pan-Islamic empire, something akin to Ottoman Empire or a throwback to the glory
days of Sultan Saladin who conquered much of the Middle East [1174 –1193]. U.S. officials bristled when Moscow
delivered five Su-25 Sukhoi fighter jets with Russian pilots to bomb ISIS
positions in Iraq. When al-Baghdadi
announced a name change for ISIS or ISIL to the Islamic State, it signaled a new
boldness whose reach looks beyond the Middle East to Europe, Africa, Asia and
eventually America. Talking about
conquests from Central African Republic to Myanmar, al-Baghdadi appealed to
Islam’s growing number of Jihadists to join the “mother of all battles.” “Your brothers, on every piece of
this earth, are waiting for you to rescue them,” said al-Baghdadi, attempting to
recruit more Muslims into his holy war.
U.S. and Russia need to urgently put aside their difference and agree to
rid Iraq, Syria and Jordan of al-Baghdadi’s Islamic State. U.S. officials know that the U.S.
slow response to global terrorist cost American the World Trade Center and piece
of the Pentagon. Had Reagan,
Bush-41 and Clinton taken terrorism more seriously, it might have never led to
Sept. 11. However well or poorly
Bush-43 handled Sept. 11, the U.S., U.N., NATO and Russia can’t let al-Baghdadi
expand his sphere to the point that he threatens the U.S. or Russian homeland. “By Allah, we will take revenge, by
Allah we will take revenge, even if after a while,” said al-Baghdad, showing the
kind of maniacal fervor that makes him a worldwide menace. Al-Baghdadi’s God has transformed him into a lawless killing machine, maiming, torturing
and murdering anyone that gets in his way, all in the name of Islam.
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