Irony alert: Saudis announce formation of ‘anti-terrorism’ coalition By Rick Moran
A nation ruled by an extremist Islamic sect known as the Wahhabis announced that it has formed a grand coalition of mostly Muslim countries to fight terrorism. Saudi Arabia and 33 other nations will coordinate their efforts to end terrorism – they say.
Presumably, the government of Saudi Arabia and the coalition won’t fight any of the Islamist militias the Saudis are currently supporting in Syria. And Pakistan, a member of the coalition, will somehow forget that it is supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The fact is, many members of this coalition are supporting their own pet terrorist outfits to advance their own interests.
The announcement published by the state-run Saudi Press Agency said the alliance will be Saudi-led and is being established because terrorism “should be fought by all means and collaboration should be made to eliminate it.” The statement said Islam forbids “corruption and destruction in the world” and that terrorism constitutes “a serious violation of human dignity and rights, especially the right to life and the right to security.”
The new counterterrorism coalition includes nations with large and established armies such as Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt as well as war-torn countries with embattled militaries such as Libya and Yemen. African nations that have suffered terrorist attacks such as Mali, Chad, Somalia and Nigeria are also members.
Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, Shiite Iran, is not part of the coalition. Saudi Arabia and Iran support opposite sides of in the wars raging in Syria and Yemen. Saudi Arabia is currently leading a military intervention in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels and is part of the U.S.-led coalition bombing the Sunni extremist Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
At a rare news conference, Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman said the new Islamic military coalition will develop mechanisms for working with other countries and international bodies to support counterterrorism efforts. He said their efforts would not be limited to only countering the Islamic State (ISIS) group.
“Currently, every Muslim country is fighting terrorism individually … so coordinating efforts is very important,” he said.
He said the joint operations center will be established in Riyadh to “coordinate and support military operations to fight terrorism” across the Muslim world.
None of the Arab states involved in the U.S. “coalition” against ISIS have carried out any bombing missions in months. They’re too busy killing Shia Houthis in Yemen and Alawites in Syria to take any time to kill Sunni ISIS fighters.
Like many things in the desert, this is a mirage – an unserious attempt to show the world that Muslims hate terrorism, too. No doubt that is true. But when push comes to shove, the new coalition will fight the terrorists to the last Westerner.
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