TV discussion: the struggle against so-called Islamic State
Transmitted 16 September 2014. Posted 7 December 2014.
“The Report” is the Islam Channel’s daily current affairs programme. On 16 September 2014 it featured a discussion about the bombing of Iraq under the title “Islamic State and the war on terror.”
I have no control over the programme titles the Islam Channel chooses but as far as I am concerned “the war on terror” was always a mistaken concept (how does one wage war against an abstract noun?) and it is language that the UK and US governments no longer use. Accordingly I regard use of the phrase by the Islam Channel as contentious.
The presenter was Chris Bambery and the panel participants were:
Ayman Abouzaid – a commentator on Islam and politics
The program can be watched below. Sadly its topicality has not faded in the intervening three months.
The key points that I made were as follows:
The idea that ISIS is a creation of “the West” is complete nonsense. Unfortunately people in the Middle East are particularly prone to believing conspiracy theories.
I believe that “the West” is right to bomb ISIS in Iraq with the full support of the Iraqi government.
The conflict in Syria is a three-cornered fight between the Assad regime, the moderate rebels and ISIS. When we attack any one of those three, we automatically help the other two parties.
So far the Iraqi army has performed appallingly. However it can be trained and led to perform better.
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