Inkwell Institute

Middle East Desk

Al Qaeda–ISIS…..ISIS–Al Qaeda

Lebanon is smouldering…..Palestine is waiting its doom…….Syria is burning out of control and now Iraq has burst into flames before the world’s eyes…….and like everything that-goes wrong in the region it is either Iran’s fault or Al Qaeda’s…….AQ that band of emotionless terrorists that has been a thorn in the side of the west for a couple of decades.   Americans hate what AQ is doing…….but how can you hare something that you are unaware of during your hate?

In recent months there has been a wealth of accusations by the lunatics on the Right that our government is somehow responsible for AQ……sad to say they are right. (Write that down for I will seldom make a comment like that about our right wing brethren)…………AQ was created by the CIA as a part of the larger mujaheddin movement to fight the Russians……or they had to have someone to funnel the cash to and AQ fit the bill perfectly.

What does the world know of Al Qaeda?

I believe that to know your enemy is to win the war…..and there is very little that is told to the world of AQ….we know that they are radical Muslims…..and those use terror to get their way…….and we hate them.

AQ is the creation of the CIA in its battles with the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980’s.  The us brought in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to act as the bankroll for the organization…..both countries contributed originally #3.5 billion ……the quasi charity organizations fronted by the Saudis became the finance center of the rising jihadist movement and the US looked the other way to their operations.

Once the Russians left Afghanistan the movement went on to other desires and situations.

There seems there was a code of conduct at one point…….which has sadly been replaced by more extreme religious fervor…..

Osama bin Laden was, to put it mildly, not a nice guy. But in some ways, he looks like a gentle soul compared to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The group, which al-Qaeda has disowned, breaks all seven of bin Laden’s famed rules for effective terrorists, William Saletan at Slate points out; that’s why Saletan thinks that, despite its current power and wealth, “ISIS is destroying itself.” Here are some examples:

• Don’t fight civil wars. Bin Laden warned that this would “weigh on [local] people” who “will start to want to stop the fighting” and turn to secular governments. By calling itself a state, ISIS is explicitly seeking civil war.
• Don’t kill civilians. Yes, bin Laden killed plenty, but he said he regretted it, saying that it alienated people.
• Don’t show bloodlust, lest you look like “animals and killers,” bin Laden warned. But ISIS exults in its brutality, cutting off people’s heads and promising to wipe out Shiites. “It’s hard to imagine propaganda better designed to repulse the public and galvanize the enemy,” Saletan observes.
• Don’t rule harshly. Within days of taking Mosul, ISIS said it would put anyone who didn’t repent to death. That kind of thing alienates more moderate potential Sunni allies.
• Don’t fight your allies. It was the Iraq insurgency that taught bin Laden this lesson, as Sunni fighters turned against al-Qaeda after it attacked civilians. But ISIS has publicly feuded with al-Qaeda and other Syrian rebels, and destroyed the homes of Baathists.

“We’ve been here before,” Saletan concludes. “Eight years ago, jihadists in Iraq made the same mistakes. They alienated the public and were driven out by tribes that had fought alongside them.” That they’ve returned at all is the result of Nouri al-Maliki’s government ruling harshly itself and persecuting Sunnis. For more, read Saletan’s full column.

Do not mistake my post as an approval of anything these jihadist do…it is NOT!  All I am saying is that if ISIS, a supposed splinter group of AQ, were to live by the rules set forth above….there might be a little more acceptance of what they are trying to do…..not the tactics but the ideals…..