The greatest lie told in the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is that there was a popular uprising that the Syrian government brutally suppressed.
Instead there are the Gulf Monarchies who led by Saudi Arabia oppress their people using a perversion of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism. Invented in the 18th century this demands that followers live as people did during the time of the friends (Salafi) of the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century.
What makes Wahhabism so effective in oppressing people is it that bans any questioning of authority. Even drawings of the Prophet preforming his charitable works are strictly forbidden. As a result there are a worrying number of Saudi Arabians who genuinely believe that the sun orbits the earth.
In contrast there is Syria. Although this is not a part of the world that is famed for liberal governments and free populations Syria has long been considered to be one of the most modern democracies in the region. For example its secular constitution has long allowed Shia and Sunni Muslims to worship freely alongside Christians and other religious minorities such as the Druze and the Yazidi and has given women equal status within society.
Further infuriating the al-Saud family that rules Saudi Arabia the Assad family who govern Syria come from the Alawite sect of Shia Islam. This represents almost the polar opposite of Wahhabism. Not only are its followers encouraged seek answers to the great philosophical questions such as man's role within society they also worship 12 Imans who have examined the Prophets teachings and added to them almost in the same way that Catholic Christians worship saints.
With the people of Tunisia and Egypt rising up to demand full democracy in early 2011 the al-Saud family became extremely worried that this type of thinking could catch on - particularly in Syria - and spread throughout the region ending their very lucrative reign. So in response they recruited Wahhabist fighters from across the world and sent them to Syria to destroy the country. The idea being to convince the world that Arabs are to stupid for democracy and freedom so need brutal Monarchs to keep them in line.
Amid the constantly shifting battlefield allegiances the Whabbist fighters backed by Saudi Arabia along with Qatar and Turkey morphed into ISIL. In August 2014 it became impossible for the world to ignore ISIL's brutality any further and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed resolution 2170 (2014) authorising the world to fight ISIL under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.
Since then Saudi Arabia has been desperately trying to convince the world that it isn't backing ISIL and that the US-led coalition should follow their lead by backing the 'moderate' Army of Conquest/Jaish al-Fatah (JAF) to fight ISIL. After all US President Obama clearly can't see any hint of ideological similarity between the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)" and the Saudi-backed "Islamic Movement of the Freemen of the Levant (FML)" who make up a large part of JAF.
The other ludicrous story the Saudis have been selling is that ISIL are allied with the Syrian government. ISIL's entire ideology is that they need to establish an Islamic State in the Levant so God can descend to earth to fight the apocalyptic war that will wipe out all the Shias. It seems extremely unlikely that the Shia dominated Syrian government would rush to support that ideology. Given their numerous beheadings of Syrian government troops and their attacks on Syrian government positions in Hasakah city and today in the town of Al-Qaryatain in Homs province ISIL don't seem to be behaving much like an ally of the Syrian government.
With the Iran deal threatening to end Saudi Arabia's regional dominance and the looming 9/11 lawsuit in the US pressure on the al-Saud family is starting to grow. In fact - rather like the bin Laden jet that crashed in the UK last Friday (31/7/15) - you could say that alarm bells are sounding all over the flight deck.
So it came as little surprise then when today ISIL claimed to have carried out a suicide bombing at a Sunni Mosque in the Saudi city of Abha which killed 15 members of the Saudi security forces. This was intended to allow the al-Sauds to turn to the world and say; "Look we're the enemies of ISIL too!" while reinforcing the idea locally that ISIL are allied not only with the Alawite Shia Syrian government but also the Houthi Shia Yemen government that Saudi Arabia is also currently trying to overthrow.
While I'm here I should tidy up by pointing out that on Tuesday (4/8/15) and Wednesday (5/8/15) shots were fired at the Camp Shelby military base in Mississippi, US which is currently home to elite US Army Rangers. No-one even came close to being injured in either incident but the key detail was that the vehicle used was emblazoned with the slogan "Broken Arrow." Although US military codewords are subject to change for a very long time "Broken Arrow" was the term used when a US base was being over-run and all available air-strikes being called into assist.
It appears that a similar set of circumstances led to Obama changing the rules of engagement to allow coalition air-strikes against the Syrian government. Last Thursday (30/7/15) it was announced that a group of US-backed fighters in Syria known as Division 30 (D30) had been kidnapped by JAF although this may have been cover for another series of defections. Apparently on Friday (31/7/15) night the D30 base became over-run by JAF - a Broken Arrow. In his panic Obama may well have been tricked into crossing the line and entering into an illegal war against the Syrian government.
Also yesterday there was a strange incident in Tennessee where a man released tear gas in a movie theatre whilst waving an axe and a BB-gun around before being shot and killed by the police. Initially this was reported as a mass shooting. When there was a mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina Obama attended the funerals of the deceased and led the nation in calls to end racism and ban guns. A recent shooting at a movie theatre in Louisiana triggered celebrities and members of Obama's Democrat Party to call for guns to be banned.
When 5 US military personnel were recently killed in a terrorist attack in Chattanooga, Tennessee the silence from Obama was deafening. Apparently he is now trying to deny medals and associated death benefits to those killed because awarding them would involve admitting that a terror attack had taken place. Obama has been equally silent on the October 2014 terror attack in which two New York City police officers were attacked with an axe.
The film playing in Tennessee yesterday was "Mad Max: Fury Road." If you've not seen it it's about this group of women who have been held as sex slaves who need help as they make their escape.
I'm sure that Obama also can't see any connection between that and the plight of the Yazidi at the hands of ISIL.
20:15 on 6/8/15 (UK date).
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