Towards an Alliance Between Russia and ISIS?

New intense fighting has erupted between the NATO backed Free Syrian Army of Syria, and the NATO backed Kurds of Syria. The Free Syrian Army comprises the supposedly moderate Sunni Islamist fighters of Syria. The truth is that there are no moderate Sunni Islamist fighters in Syria. All these fighters have been supported in the past by Al Qaeda, ISIS or other terrorist organizations.

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All the fighters in Syria are either Sunni Jihadists supported by Turkey, the Arabs and other Sunni countries, or Shia Jihadists, supported by Iran and Bashar al Assad. When we, the pro-Westernes, categorize them as “moderate” and “non-moderate”, we categorize them according to how hostile they are towards the Western World, because all of them think that we are stealing their oil. They question how hostile they are towards the West.

We call “moderate” the Sunni Islamists of Syria who are supported by Qatar, and other countries with relatively good relations with the Western World. But these Sunni Islamists are no better or different than the ones supported by countries hostile to the Western World. They are exactly the same.

The top officers of ISIS in Syria and Iraq are ex people of Saddam Hussein. Saddam was a Soviet ally, and these peope were receiving top training in the previous decades by KGB. The number 2 of ISIS, Abu Ali al Anbari, was a General of Saddam Hussein, and he was killed by the Americans in March 2016. One of the top 5 officers of ISIS, Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, was the head of Saddam’ intelligence servies. These people had close connections with the KGB, they were receiving top training from the KGB, and they had supported many terrorist attacks against the United States. Putin was also a member of KGB.

But during the last few years these people have been working with Turkey. They have been selling oil to both Turkey and Assad, they have been receiving military assistance from Turkey, and they were promoting the Qatar-Turkey pipeline. Remember that Turkey also had good relations with Saddam Hussein, and was importing a lot of Iraqi oil. Moreover, Turkey, together with Saddam Hussein, were hunting the Kurds of Iraq and Turkey. Now the Kurds of Iraq have the oil and gas of Northern Iraq and Turkey needs them, but at the time Saddam controlled the oil of Iraqi Kurdistan, and Turkey did not need the Kurds of Iraq. Therefore Turkey also had close contacts with the people of Saddam Hussein, who were also Sunnis. Remember that Turkey, like the Arabs of the Persian Gulf, was infuriated when the Americans overturned Saddam Hussein in 2003, and the Shia majority of Iraq rose to power.

The point is that ISIS could have excellent relations with Russia, if it was not working with Turkey, and if it decided not to promote the Arab-Turkish pipelines i.e. Qatar-Turkey.

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Remember that the Americans were accusing the Russians of attacking the Free Syrian Army i.e. the Sunni Islamists of Syria that were mainly supported by the Arabs of the Gulf, and for not attacking ISIS. The Americans were right. The Russians had no reason to attack their ex-allies of ISIS, as long as they stayed away from Assad. And they did stay away from Assad. If you check the maps you will see that ISIS stayed away from the coasts of Syria. It was the Free Syrian Army that was very close to Assd.

By not attacking ISIS, Russia did not hurt her relations with Turkey, at a time the two countries were discussing the Turk Stream Pipeline. Things changed of course once Turkey decided to down the Russian aircraft. Due to the rivalry between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, until the rise of King Salman in January 2015, the Turks would not really mind if the Russians were attacking Sunni gangs supported by Saudi Arabia and UAE in Syria. Remember that ISIS was also attacking Saudi Arabia.

However, after the rise of King Salman to power, the Turks and the Saudis decided to cooperate in Syria. Recently Turkey changed her stance towards ISIS, and started attacking ISIS. That’s why ISIS is getting weaker in Syria. Remember that the Arabs of the Gulf, even though they preferred Saddam Hussein from the Iranians, hated and were afraid of Saddam Hussein as well.

I do not know if it would be wise for ISIS to go against Turkey, but it might have no choice, since Turkey seems to have decided to go against ISIS, alongside the Americans. But if the Turks start hunting ISIS, ISIS would have a motive to cooperate with Russia, and Russia would have a motive to cooperate with ISIS.

But can Turkey be serious in attacking ISIS? I don’t know, but by aligning herself with the Americans and the Free Syrian Army, Turkey would have a great advantage i.e. to reduce the importance of the Kurds of Syria, because the Kurds of Syria are the only ally the Americans have against ISIS in Syria. Therefore the Kurds of Syria are very valuable for the Americans.

In Iraq the Americans also have the Iraqi Shias against ISIS of Iraq, but in Syria the Americans only have the Kurds of Syria. The Americans are already in a difficult situation with the Kurds of Syria, because the Kurds of Syria are also supported by Russia, and they support the PKK, which carries terrorist attacks in Turkey, and Turkey is a US ally. The PKK also blocks the oil pipeline from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey, that is already running, and the future gas pipeline that will run from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey.

As you can read at the Business Insider article, after the intense fighting between the Free Syrian Army and the Kurds of Syria, the Americans are in a very difficult position, because both of them are their allies. What is for sure is that if the Turks join the Free Syrian Army and attack ISIS for good, they will cause cracks in the American-Kurdish alliance in Syria. But on the other hand they will hand ISIS to Russia. But by doing that the Turks will get more support from the United States.

I also want to say that the ex director of CIA, General Petreaous, said that United States has to support the moderate parts of Al Qaeda in Syria, in order to fight ISIS. As I said there are no moderate elements of Al Qaeda. What he means is that the United States should work with the parts of Al Qaeda that are supported by Qatar, Saudi Arabia etc, in order to attack ISIS i.e. the ex people of Saddam Hussein. Remember that Al Qaeda is a loose sum of Sunni gangs, who have a presence in many countries and are supported by many Muslim counties. Some gangs of Al Qaeda might cooperate with Qatar today, but with Pakistan tomorrow etc. Or they can leave Al Qaeda, for ISIS or some other terrorist groups.

Articles

 “There's a 'secondary conflict' brewing in northern Syria that 'could easily spin out of control”, May 2016

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Two Syrian Kurds were shot dead by a former member of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) last weekend, in what the executioner said was a response to an incident last monthin which the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) killed around 50 FSA fighters and transported them back to Kurdish territory in an open-top trailer.

http://www.businessinsider.com/kurds-arabs-tension-syria-2016-5

“Former CIA Director Petraeus Urging Cooperation with Al-Qaeda Against ISIS”, September 2015

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Former CIA director and retired Army general David Petraeus is suggesting America should team up with al-Qaeda to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

That is the word from sources who relayed Petraeus’ advice to the Daily Beast. To be more specific, Petraeus has been “quietly urging U.S. officials to consider using so-called moderate members of al Qaeda’s Nusra Front to fight ISIS in Syria.”

Petraeus’ idea may not be strategically foolish or indefensible. It is a variation on the old “enemy of my enemy is my friend” play, a tactic the Daily Beast likens to Petraeus urging cooperation with some rather unsavory Sunni militias in Iraq to fight al-Qaeda elements of the insurgency. The idea is that some members of the Nusra Front might be sufficiently distant from “core al-Qaeda” and the heirs to Osama bin Laden’s bloody throne to make useful American proxies against the far greater menace of ISIS.

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/09/01/report-former-cia-director-petraeus-urging-cooperation-with-al-qaeda-against-isis/

“The US didn’t create ISIS - Assad and Saddam did”, November 2015

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260645/us-didnt-create-isis-assad-and-saddam-did-daniel-greenfield