The goings-on in Iraq, as well as along the Iraq-Syria border, seem extremely confusing, especially with how the media has been portraying them. The Western media is trying show that the al-Qaeda-affiliated ISIS (or is it ISIL?) is a Sunni organisation, and the conflict that has erupted there is a sectarian one between the Sunnis and the Shias. The media is transmitting that the Sunnis have rebelled against the Shia regime of Nouri al-Maliki.
As far as the name of the organisation is concerned, the media is now using both “ISIS” and “ISIL” for referring to Iraq’s extremists. But to the global population, the confusion still remains over what to call this group. The American government is calling them ISIL, but the media in America is using ISIS. Arabic media and politicians are also calling it Da’ish.
The question that is being asked globally is whether the conflict is truly between Shias and Sunnis. Thousands of analysts and researchers have already cited how this Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has created havoc in Syria. They have also shown how ISIS consists of extremists from European, Arab, and some Asian countries whose objective is to destabilise the existing governments in that region.
The BBC has reported that the term for this group came from Syrian opposition activists and social media users. The Associated Press has said: “The term ‘al-Sham’ refers to a region stretching from southern Turkey through Syria to Egypt, which also includes Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan. The group’s stated goal is to restore an Islamic state, or caliphate, in this entire area.”
Then at a stage, former US spy Edward Snowden revealed that the UK and US intelligences and the Mossad worked together to create ISIS. He said intelligence services of three countries created what he called a terrorist organisation which was able to attract all extremists of the world to one place.
It was also revealed that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi was militarily trained by Mossad. The Middle Eastern media has also stated that Israel has in fact created this group for its own regional interests. These pieces of information have raised even more confusion.
On the other hand, the USA has been watching the developments in northern Iraq quite silently for a long time. But lately, it has decided to deal with ISIS as an enemy of peace, and begun its air strikes.
But this group has been showing its teeth for the last two years as an impending terror group in the region. In the last two years, groups such as this have been the main fuelling forces in the Syrian conflict that has claimed thousands of lives and made millions homeless.
Initially, we saw that ISIS received political support from American politicians who sort of accepted it as the ruler in northern Iraq. The US politicians started referring to Iraq as being “de facto partitioned,” meaning that ISIS had created a separate Sunni region that would be complemented by Shia and Kurdish regions.
We now see the USA is back in Iraq for the second time after the war in 2003, when Saddam Hussein was ousted. The 2003 invasion still remains controversial across the world, as the weapons of mass destruction, which were one of the prime reasons for the attack, were never found after a huge destruction of life and property in that country.
It was argued over whether the 2003 war was just a war or a “just war.” No matter how the West denies that the 2003 invasion wasn’t to blame for the violent insurgency now gripping the country, the non-US and non-UK strategists and analysts think that invasion is the consequence of today’s conflict.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has denied that their role at that time was responsible for what is happening now. But critics have rejected his claims as “bizarre” and accused him of “washing his hands of responsibility.”
Many have, of course, held Maliki responsible for all this. His flawed strategies and Saddam-like qualities have created a vacuum for the terrorists to create unrest. Now, the ferocious militant offensive going on since June is overrunning much of the country’s north and west. They have also displaced the Kurdish, Christian, and Yazidi communities, and a huge exodus is now taking place along the borders. Iraqi as well as Western military attacks couldn’t also make any significant headway in stopping the terrorists.
In this confused state of the affairs, we’re not confused about one thing: This time, Iraq is destined to get divided. The country looks doomed for a long, long time.