Fighting Terror? The West Is Not Alone

"Currently every Muslim country is fighting terrorism individually ... so co-ordinating efforts is very important."
"Any terrorist organization that appears in front of us [would be engaged for destruction by the new Islamic Military Alliance headed by Saudi Arabia]."
Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman

In this Sept. 17, 2015, file photo, Saudi security forces, whose faces display the word "Decisive" take part in a military parade in preparation for the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
(Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP)

 

Imagine, Saudi Arabia leading a coalition of Muslim countries from the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa to battle Islamist terrorism. Among the participants would be countries like Sudan whose president, Hassan Ahmad al Bashir is known to have launched Arab janjaweed terrorist action against Darfurians, a man and an administration censored and found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes, by the International Criminal Court.

Saudi Arabia itself funded and founded international madrasses teaching the way of Salafist Wahhabist Islamism, breeding such luminaries as Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al Badhdadi of al-Qaeda and Islamic State infamy respectively. And Qatar, whose admiration and support of the terrorist group Hamas is well enough acknowledged, along with Turkey, supportive and friendly to both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

The alliance of 34 Islamic member countries (alliance’s full roster is Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Jordan, Tunisia, Yemen, the Palestinians, Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Benin, Chad, Togo, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gabon, Guinea, Comoros, Ivory Coast, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Nigeria) includes both Pakistan and Afghanistan, along with Iraq, all three beset by conflict, where fanatical Islamist forces threaten the stability of the Muslim populace, and where tribal and sectarian animosities are deadly.

How to identify the champions of terrorism as opposed to the opponents of terrorism? Take, for example, the Palestinians who celebrate as 'martyrs' Palestinian Arabs who slaughter Israeli civilians; if imprisoned they are placed on salary, if dead, they are celebrated heroes with streets named after them. It treads a very fine line, but it also appears that in an effort to appear to set aside sectarian rivalry, an invitation has been opened for Iran to participate. In which case its terrorist proxy Hezbollah presents a problem.

On the other hand, an Islamist government such as Iran, that acts like a terrorist organization -- concerning the international community with the conviction that its nuclear aspirations have only been delayed with the concurrence of the Obama administration -- remains an entity that waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck. Then of course, there is also the inconvenience that some of those countries named as members of the Islamic Military Alliance have no intention of engaging in any military action and hadn't, in any event, agreed to be part of the alliance.

But there are other inconvenience, the most obvious is that while Middle East countries in particular have produced terrorist groups, they have barely moved a collective scimitar to eliminate them once they became a threat to their own rule. If the Arab League was impotent to intervene in the raging bloodshed that has destroyed civilization in Syria, and Saudi Arabia is leading a proxy war against Iran in Yemen against the Houthis, the entire conception of an allied Muslim force to fight terror becomes a transparent sham.

"The Saudis ... hesitate to go under the U.S. umbrella. But here is another umbrella. They want to say it’s 'good Muslims fighting bad Muslims'."
"[There are] a lot of difficulties on the technical side [to making such a military coalition work, 
needing support from the wider international community; if successful, it could help fill a much-needed gap in the fight against IS.]"
"Islam is accused — directly or indirectly — of sponsoring terrorism. Everyone has to prove not guilty. This project is going to offer Muslim boots on the ground. This is what the West wants."
Mustafa Alani, director, security and defence department, Gulf Research Center, Geneva