Source: The Daily Beast
Last week’s counter-terrorism conference in Jeddah can be summed up in two words: lost opportunity. Why? None of the participants were representative of an independent, democratic or critical voice in the Middle East. Rather, the Muslim scholars who participated were voices of their inept governments, who condemn every dissident voice as a terrorist.
In the backdrop of the conference, President Barack Obama made his case for war against ISIS in Iraq to the American public last week as well. Obama also sent a direct message Muslims around the world that ISIS is not really Islamic and America is not at war with Islam. This message was meant to hit the heart of the Arab Muslim world, but it fell on deaf ears.
Categories: Africa
An excellent article.
I am not so sure that political and especially religious reforms would affect ISIS. ISIS is a terrorist organization that spread not because of any religious doctrine but because there was a power vacuum in the region. In Syria the West helped in smashing the Government’s control. In Iraq power vacuums were created because the Central Government did not find a way to remain in-charge of the Sunni regions. Nothing to do with religion in either regions. Yes, ISIS is using religious slogans, but that does not change the facts I mentioned.