ODFS Director Ribal Al-Assad today gave the keynote address to the World Affairs Councils of America in Washington, D.C. The World Affairs Councils of America is the largest non-profit grassroots organization in the United States dedicated to educating and engaging Americans on global issues with nearly 100 councils across 40 states reaching more than half a million people a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ribal also participated in the panel titled “The New Map of the Middle East,” alongside the following speakers: Dennis Ross (Distinguished Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy), Thomas J. Lippman (journalist and author), Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman (Kurdistan Regional Government Representative of the United States), andThomas McNamara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other panels included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Security Challenges Facing the West”, with the following participants: Eugene Czolij (President, Ukrainian World Congress); John F. Harris (Editor in Chief, POLITICO); David O’Sullivan (Ambassador, Delegation of the European Union to the United States); Andras Simonyi (Managing Director, Centre of Transatlantic Relations), Frank A. Rose (Assistant Secretary for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, US Department of State).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The Arctic: Challenges and Opportunities”, with the following participants: Kare Aas (Ambassador of Norway to the United States), Gregory Kallenberg (Director, Producer, Rational Middle East Series), Gwen Pamela Holdman (Director, Alaska Centre for Energy and Power); Julia L. Gourley (Senior Arctic Official, US Department of State), Rear Admiral Jonathan W. White (Oceanographer and Navigator, US Navy).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his speech, which can be found below, Ribal spoke about the situation in Syria and the broader politics of the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thank you \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and good morning, ladies and gentlemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’d like to thank the World Affairs Councils of America for the kind invitation to speak to you today \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 at this very important and exciting conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have been asked to speak about the current crisis in Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and afterwards I look forward to joining the panel discussing ‘the new map of the Middle East’ \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and hearing from the other, estimable speakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that the situation in Syria and the broader politics of the Middle East are intimately connected \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and that both have grave implications for the national security of the United States \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and indeed the rest of the world \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 because although the regional character of the Syrian crisis has been obvious for some time \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 it also has increasingly clear global repercussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I will go onto explain how regional power dynamics inflamed what began as a merely national confrontation between the Syrian regime and its opponents \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 transforming it into a bloody sectarian proxy war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The greatest danger now facing us is the possibility of this escalating into a proxy war between global powers \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but it is my sincere hope that this danger can be averted \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... ve bunun yerine uluslararas\u0131 toplum ortak d\u00fc\u015fman\u0131m\u0131zla y\u00fczle\u015fmek i\u00e7in bir araya gelebilir ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 namely Islamist terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bu, \u00fclkeme ve daha geni\u015f b\u00f6lgeye kal\u0131c\u0131 bar\u0131\u015f\u0131 getirmenin ilk ad\u0131m\u0131 olacakt\u0131r ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 so that its people can begin their journey to true freedom and democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, as you know, in recent weeks, Russia has taken on a far more active role \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 intervening directly to support the Syrian regime with over a thousand air strikes so far \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and of course to a lesser extent the US and its allies too have been involved in launching<\/p>\n\n\n\n
air strikes to support mostly Kurdish fighters against Islamic State \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 though not nearly enough to be effective, especially when you compare with the number of strikes in Afghanistan and Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the 2003 Iraq war, the US and its allies conducted 800 airstrikes a day \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but in the current conflict, there were barely more than 7,000 in the year from last October to this October (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s less than a fortieth of the intensity in Iraq!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until recently, the US and Russia have taken directly opposing positions on the regime \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but they certainly have a common enemy in Islamic State \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and indeed one thing most of the international community can agree on, is that these<\/p>\n\n\n\n
barbaric Islamists must be stopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Russians have long been convinced that the only way to do this is to keep the present Syrian regime in power \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 fearing that its fall would allow jihadists to seize control of the whole country \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 while the US and its allies at first were adamant that the president must go \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 though they are now increasingly willing to consider a transitional period to allow for stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For my part, I have been a vocal opponent of the Syrian regime since long before the conflict started \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 which is why I have been in exile for most of my life \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and why I founded the Organisation for Democracy and Freedom in Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but I have always maintained that there must be a political, diplomatic and all-inclusive transition to democracy in my country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The difficulty, as I’m sure many of you already know, is that within Syria itself, the forces of<\/p>\n\n\n\n
democracy have been marginalised for many years \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and anti-regime forces have been dominated by Islamists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are many different Islamist groups operating in Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 of which Islamic State is only the leading brand \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and they share the same poisonous ideology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, the irony is that they understand all too well that they are on one side \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and the international community is on the other \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 regardless of the differences between the US and Russia, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has called on his fellow ideologues of all factions to unite against their non-Islamist foes in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Zawahri sees it, and I quote from a recording he posted on the internet \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 “The Americans, Russians, Iranians, Alawites, and Hezbollah are coordinating their war<\/p>\n\n\n\n
against us \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 are we not capable of stopping the fighting amongst ourselves so we can direct all our<\/p>\n\n\n\n
efforts against them?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We may not think of ourselves as being on the same side as the Russians \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 let alone the Iranians (!) \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but it is quite true that in the context of Syria, we have a common interest in defeating the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Islamists \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 so should we not be coordinating our efforts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember, slaughter and destruction is not ‘collateral damage’ for the Islamists \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 it is deliberate and ideologically motivated \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and it will not stop until they are defeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, until that time, they will continue to threaten us all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ancak uluslararas\u0131 toplumun bug\u00fcn nas\u0131l tepki vermesi gerekti\u011fi konusuna ge\u00e7meden \u00f6nce<\/p>\n\n\n\n
yar\u0131n Suriye'deki krize ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and how it affects our own national security \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... d\u00fcne d\u00f6nmeme izin verin ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and how this situation came about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As you all know, the present conflict began in 2011 with a series of protests against the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
rejim ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 which were widely interpreted at the time in the context of the so-called Arab Spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, many Syrians were crying out for freedom and democracy \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but sadly their voices were soon drowned out by those with a very different agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is why, to this day, the overwhelming majority of so-called opposition forces are in fact<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Islamists \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 committed not to freedom and democracy \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but to sectarian bloodshed and the imposition of brutal sharia law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And let me add that their ambitions are not limited to Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Islamism is a global movement committed to establishing an Islamic Caliphate not only in the Middle East \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but from Andaluc\u00eda in Spain to Xinjiang in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how was a movement for freedom and democracy in my country hijacked by jihadists with no respect for freedom or for democratic sovereignty?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answer is that powerful regional players intervened \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and are effectively fighting a proxy war on Syrian soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I’m sure you know, the major rivalry in the Middle East is between Iran on one side and the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gulf states and Turkey on the other \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and all are deeply involved in the Syrian conflict \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 using the sectarian divide between Sunni and Shia Muslims to further their own interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One reason for the involvement of the Gulf states is that they were worried about the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
domino effect of the Arab Spring \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 so they made sure that extremist elements dominated the Syrian opposition from 2011\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and used jihadist television stations to foment sectarian war rather than democratic change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the Gulf states and Turkey alike believed that fomenting sectarian conflict In Syria would bring down the regime in a matter of months \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... b\u00f6ylece \u0130ran'\u0131 izole etmek ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and putting a stop to its nuclear programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clearly this gambit failed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now Iran has signed its nuclear deal with the US, it is in a way becoming a partner of the West \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and with the lifting of sanctions it is able to release the funds it needs to further the strategy it has been pursuing since the invasion of Iraq \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 which effectively handed Iran control of most of that country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is also now able to pay for Russia’s intervention in Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 which has also allowed the Iranians themselves to deploy more ground troops there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It should also be noted that, while international observers have speculated that Iran’s intervention in Syria was about securing the nuclear programme \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... e\u011fer bir \u015fey varsa, tam tersi do\u011frudur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nuclear programme, like the intervention in Syria, is only a means to an end \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 namely Iran’s long-term aspiration to dominate the Middle East from the Gulf to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ve ironik bir \u015fekilde, Arap Bahar\u0131'ndan bu yana Selefi a\u015f\u0131r\u0131c\u0131l\u0131\u011f\u0131n y\u00fckseli\u015fi \u0130ran'a sadece yard\u0131mc\u0131 oldu ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 since minorities throughout the region have heard the hateful sectarian rhetoric on satellite TV and other media owned by the Gulf states \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and they have seen, often in explicit footage on YouTube and so on \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 the wholesale slaughter of minority groups, whether Christians, Alawites, Kurds, Shias, Druze, Ismailis, Yazidis \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 not to mention the suffering of the peaceful majority of the Sunnis who do not share the Islamists’ poisonous ideology!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So no wonder those minorities now look to Iran as their only hope of protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is a role the Iranians are only too happy to take up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While they still deny having a fighting force in Syria, it has been reported that thousands of Iranian marines have joined the Russian forces fighting the Syrian rebels \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 while other reports suggest that Iran is supporting thousands more Shia militiamen from<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and of course, Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces from Lebanon are openly involved in the fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hope by now it is clear that all this is ultimately the unintended consequence of Saudi Arabia and Qatar channelling billions of dollars and later arms to Islamist groups in Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and of Turkey’s efforts to ensure the Syrian opposition was dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 so where was the democratic world when the seeds of this catastrophe were sown in 2011?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, along with other Western countries, even<\/p>\n\n\n\n
recognised the Brotherhood-dominated Syrian National Council \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and it took Mrs Clinton 18 months to realise it did not represent the Syrian people \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 by which time, Islamist fighters were tearing Syria apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As late as September 2013, new Secretary of State John Kerry claimed at a Senate Foreign<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Relations Committee meeting that there was \u201cno\u201d al-Qaeda presence in Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 long after its presence had been established beyond doubt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even in 2012, the US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper described the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
opposition as fractured, \u201cnot a national movement\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and infiltrated by al-Qaeda \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and General Dempsey said clearly that none of the rebel groups share \u2018our\u2019 interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also in 2013, Secretary of Justice Eric Holder confirmed that the Free Syrian Army is dominated by the al Qaeda ideology \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and General Lloyd Austin III warned, “The conflict in Syria cannot and will not be resolved militarily” \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and warned that, “left unchecked, the spread of violence and terrorist activity emanating from Syria could result in a long, drawn out conflict \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... Beyrut'tan \u015eam'a, Ba\u011fdat'tan Yemen'e kadar uzan\u0131yor.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But tragically, the lessons have still not been learnt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 24 October, US Secretary of State John Kerry met King Salman \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and agreed to increase support to Syria’s supposedly ‘moderate’ opposition \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 an entity Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rightly describes as a ‘phantom group’ \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 whose whereabouts nobody has been able to locate (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, such is the desperation in some quarters to find suitable allies among the Syrian<\/p>\n\n\n\n
rebels that some argue the West should back Jabhat Al Nusra \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 the Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some believe that if the Nusra Front can be persuaded to undergo a rebrand \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 then suddenly they will be suitable allies for the democratic world (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even General Petraeus has recently suggested using al-Nusra to fight Islamic State \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 as if there are somehow \u201cgood Islamists\u201d and \u201cbad Islamists\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 good terrorists and bad terrorists (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because let’s not forget that it was Al-Qaeda, not Islamic State \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 who were responsible for 9\/11, 7\/7 and the Madrid bombing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Al-Nusra’s leader Abu Mohammed Al Jolani was recently interviewed on Qatar’s al-Jazeera<\/p>\n\n\n\n
news station \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and tried to portray al Nusra as a moderate Syrian opposition movement \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but in fact he only revealed how poisonous he and his co-ideologues are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He reassured religious minorities that the group would treat them as \u201cbrothers\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 if they distanced themselves from the Assad regime \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 prevented their children from joining the Syrian military \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and abandoned their \u201cdeviant\u201d religious beliefs (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the group our ally Qatar wants us to support \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 so Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former chair of the UK Parliament\u2019s Intelligence and Security Committee was right to point out Qatar’s role in promoting terrorism \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and insist they ‘must choose their friends or live with the consequences’ \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but where are those consequences?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for Saudi Arabia, despite supposedly being a friend to the democratic world, the kingdom’s own political culture is deeply Islamist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last month, 55 Saudi clerics published a statement calling on all Muslims to join the jihad<\/p>\n\n\n\n
against the Syrian regime and Iran \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and claiming that the war was being waged by \u201cthe Orthodox crusader Russia\u201d against the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muslims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia has called for the demolition of all churches in the Arabian peninsula \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and endorsed a Muslim Brotherhood leader’s call for all Sunnis to take up arms and fight the infidels Shias and Alawites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, the WikiLeaks cables revealed that individuals and institutions in Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
have pumped millions of dollars into Islamist religious trusts and NGOs \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 from Europe to India \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and Saudi officials had high-level contacts with America\u2019s most deadly adversary in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afghanistan, the Haqqani network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, I mentioned that Turkey was involved from the very beginning of the crisis in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It sees Syria as the natural place to extend its influence south into the Arab world \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 cutting off Iran and sealing Turkey’s own role as the champion of the Sunnis throughout<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Middle East\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 effectively rebuilding the Ottoman Empire \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and just as the Gulf states do, it sees Islamism as a tool to be manipulated for its own ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the Islamist threat is not just about what Islamic State and other militants are doing in my country \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... ne kadar korkun\u00e7 olsa da ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 it is also being used very deliberately by our so-called allies \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 which is why we must urgently rethink our geopolitical alliances and priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the more so because as well as a regional dimension, the Syrian crisis also has increasingly grave global implications \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 since Russia is backing the regime along with Iran \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and the West is still implicitly backing the states who oppose the regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I’m afraid to say the Western strategy has been flawed from the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Obama administration more or less admitted this when it announced a $500m<\/p>\n\n\n\n
programme to create a new moderate rebel force in Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 after concluding that its half-hearted efforts backing existing forces over the past 4-5 years have had practically no impact \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and realising that even supposedly vetted fighters turned out to be Islamists who have ended up handing over their weapons to the likes of al-Nusra (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now after just a few months, the administration has abandoned this programme too \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 having realised that after so many years of allowing our supposed allies to promote sectarianism \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and to incite hatred, violence and killing against minorities and all those who do not share their perverted ideology \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 it is simply too late to create an all-inclusive national force from scratch (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yet again, weapons ended up in the hands of Islamists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all these failures, I find it incredible that some Western observers have the audacity to criticise the Russians for bombing our supposedly moderate rebels (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some people even still invoke the name of the so-called Free Syrian Army \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 whose Supreme Military Council was in fact exclusively Salafi \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and which in any case imploded after the Saudis learned about the US rapprochement with Iran, and ordered their people to leave and form the Army of Islam \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 taking US weapons with them and killing many non-Salafi leaders (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, if the West had moved early on in the conflict to take a lead by fostering a genuine democratic opposition \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 by calling a conference for all democratic groups who would sign up to the ideals of equality regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender and so on \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 it would by definition have excluded Islamists from the very start \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and there might now have been democratic opposition forces worthy of the name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bunun yerine, daha \u00f6nce de belirtti\u011fim gibi, s\u00f6zde m\u00fcttefiklerimizin inisiyatif almas\u0131na izin verildi ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... mezhepsel nefreti k\u00f6r\u00fcklemek ve cihat \u00e7a\u011fr\u0131s\u0131 yapmak ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and we have seen the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our priority now must be to ensure the defeat of the Islamists \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 which is why I believe the US and Russia must work together in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So while Marine General Joseph Dunford and Air Force secretary Deborah James have both<\/p>\n\n\n\n
described Russia as the biggest threat to US national security, I respectfully differ \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... ve bunun yerine CIA eski Direkt\u00f6r Yard\u0131mc\u0131s\u0131 Michael Morell ile anla\u015ft\u0131.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 who said the single biggest threat to US national security is extremists returning from<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And of course, the bigger picture is that Russia has increasingly close ties to China \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 in no small part because both feel threatened by the West \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and have been pushed together by their sense of isolation from the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this issue cannot be understood in isolation from Sino-US relations \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 particularly in the context of American plans to sail ships in the waters between Vietnam<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and the Philippines \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 signalling that it does not recognise China\u2019s territorial claims there \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and fuelling Chinese fears that the US is practising a policy of encirclement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s why we should be extremely cautious about allowing the Syrian conflict to become a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“proxy war” between the US and its allies on one side and Russia and China on the other \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 a danger that has already been raised by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fortunately President Obama responded by insisting this would not be allowed to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He told a White House press conference, \u201cThat would be bad strategy on our part.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bunu tekrar s\u00f6yleyebilir (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, the US has a clear strategic interest in working alongside Russia to ensure Islamic State, Al Nusra and all who share their perverted ideology are defeated \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
… because they pose a far greater threat to US national security than Russia does \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and one we share with the Russians and the Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, China faces a particular threat from Islamists in Xinjiang \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and has warned Turkey that if it continues to support them, China will support Kurdish rebels in Turkey \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but I’m sure we’d all prefer China to be involved in a coordinated international effort to defeat terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Putin himself has explained his involvement in Syria in terms of the estimated 5,000<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to 7,000 Russians and other Central Asians now fighting with the Islamists \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and he rightly said, \u201cWe certainly cannot allow them to use the experience they are getting<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in Syria on home soil\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US defence secretary Ashton Carter has predicted reprisal attacks on Russian soil over its<\/p>\n\n\n\n
actions in Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and indeed we now know the crash of a Russian plane over Egypt was caused by a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
terrorist bomb \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but the point is that we can all expect such attacks even if we don’t intervene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The problem is not going to disappear because we try to ignore it (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China’s special envoy for the Middle East, Ambassador Wu Sike, has spoken of the same danger, arguing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
that \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 “After being immersed in extremist ideas, when they return home they will pose a severe<\/p>\n\n\n\n
challenge and security risk”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The CIA and UN estimate is that there are a total of 15,000 foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Attorney General Eric Holder has said there are around 7,000 fighters from the West<\/p>\n\n\n\n
alone \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 which would leave only 8,000 from other Arab and Muslim countries!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And logically, there must be far more fighters from Arab and Muslim countries than<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Western ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The population is poorer, the governments have less sophisticated surveillance technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and infrastructure \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and there are a lot more mosques and clerics who are funded by some of our allies in the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gulf countries to recruit people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the number of fighters from the Middle East must be at least ten times higher than the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
number from Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Syrian report last year estimated that in total there are almost 54,000 foreign combatants<\/p>\n\n\n\n
from 87 different countries \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and given the international character of those involved, there is a clear danger of yet more<\/p>\n\n\n\n
attacks beyond the region \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 with terrorists potentially entering Europe in the guise of refugees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given the huge numbers of refugees today, it will not be easy to screen people effectively \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 because in fact it’s hard enough to keep track of our own citizens who are going to join the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Islamists in Syria and Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People from the West who have fought with Islamic State have been known to post related images on Facebook or videos on YouTube \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and in other cases young people’s parents have reported them to the police \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but in the case of foreign refugees, none of these sources of information are available \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and it is hard to tell if people are even from Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is another reason that the EU now wants to talk to the Syrian regime \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 because at least they have a better idea of who the refugees are and which ones may<\/p>\n\n\n\n
pose a threat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As well as rooting out existing terrorists, though, we also need to clamp down on Islamism as an ideology \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 to prevent them from simply recruiting more fighters to replace them \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and that means stamping out the most dangerous breeding grounds for this hateful perversion of Islam \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... internette, uydu TV kanallar\u0131nda ve di\u011fer her t\u00fcrl\u00fc medyada ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 through which Islamists can recruit people from their own bedrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UK government has recently announced an exemplary new strategy to tackle the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
promotion of Islamism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It includes banning radical preachers from posting material online \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... ve a\u015f\u0131r\u0131l\u0131k yanl\u0131s\u0131 faaliyetlerden h\u00fck\u00fcm giymi\u015f ki\u015filerin \u00e7ocuklarla \u00e7al\u0131\u015fmas\u0131n\u0131 engeller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘Extremism disruption orders’ will stop individuals engaging in extremist behaviour \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 premises used to support extremism will be shut down \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... ve internet servis sa\u011flay\u0131c\u0131lar\u0131 a\u015f\u0131r\u0131l\u0131k yanl\u0131s\u0131 materyalleri kald\u0131rmak i\u00e7in daha fazlas\u0131n\u0131 yapmak zorunda kalacaklar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
sorumlular\u0131n tespit edilmesi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Prime Minister Cameron says, “It’s no good leaving this simply to the police or the<\/p>\n\n\n\n
intelligence services \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... sadece \u015fiddet i\u00e7eren a\u015f\u0131r\u0131l\u0131k\u00e7\u0131l\u0131ktan bahsetmek iyi de\u011fildir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
T\u00fcm a\u015f\u0131r\u0131l\u0131klarla y\u00fczle\u015fmemiz gerekiyor\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is exactly what I have been saying for many years \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but for too long it fell on deaf ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As British foreign secretary Philip Hammond admitted just a couple of weeks ago \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 “In the UK, we’ve been too reluctant in the past to recognise the link between non-violent<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a\u015f\u0131r\u0131c\u0131l\u0131k ve \u015fiddet i\u00e7eren a\u015f\u0131r\u0131c\u0131l\u0131k.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Western countries have also been too reluctant to confront our so-called allies about their role<\/p>\n\n\n\n
in promoting this extremism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all, it is all very well to take measures to protect Western citizens from radicalisation \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but unless we go after the source of radicalisation, there is little point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what I have told you about this is not news, but is well-known!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bernard Squarcini, a previous Head of France’s counter-espionage and counter-terrorism Intelligence agency, has pointed to Saudi Intelligence supporting extremist groups from Afghanistan to Lebanon \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and Syria to Egypt to Mali\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and the former Head of French Interior Intelligence, Yves Bonnet has accused both Qatar and Saudi Arabia of funding extremist Islamist networks in France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just over a year ago, looking back at the conflict so far, US Vice-President Joe Biden told<\/p>\n\n\n\n
students at Harvard University, \u2018Our allies in the region were our largest problem in Syria\u2019 \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and explained as I just have that they had effectively started a \u2018proxy Sunni-Shia war\u2019 in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
their determination to bring down the Syrian regime \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... M\u00fcsl\u00fcman Karde\u015fler, El Nusra, \u0130slam Devleti ve di\u011ferleri gibi gruplar\u0131 kas\u0131tl\u0131 olarak besliyor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was later reported that the vice president subsequently apologised even for raising the issue of our allies’ complicity with such groups …<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but it is ridiculous that the most powerful country in the world should be apologising for telling the truth (!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We must name and shame individuals and states who are responsible for spreading<\/p>\n\n\n\n
extremism \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and we must ensure that counter-extremism strategies like that unveiled by the British<\/p>\n\n\n\n
government are rolled out not only throughout the West \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but perhaps even more importantly throughout the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bu da m\u00fcttefiklerimizden \u0131srarc\u0131 olmam\u0131z anlam\u0131na geliyor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... T\u00fcrkiye ve K\u00f6rfez \u00fclkeleri de dahil olmak \u00fczere ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 play their part in fighting Islamism \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 rather than fostering it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And of course, we must do as much as we can to promote economic development and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
political freedom throughout the Islamic world and beyond \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
... b\u00f6ylece oradaki gen\u00e7ler gelece\u011fe umutla bakabilsinler ...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 instead of the despair in which extremism thrives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This will not happen overnight \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 but the Organisation for Democracy & Freedom in Syria is committed to making helping<\/p>\n\n\n\n
that happen \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 as is the Iman Foundation, which I founded to promote dialogue, challenge extremism and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
bring change across the world \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and I believe that organisations like the World Affairs Councils of America also have a vital role to play in this process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first step in bringing peace to Syria \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and consequently greater security to the whole world \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 is to recognise the severity of the crisis \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and its inherently international character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then we can focus on the underlying problem of Islamic extremism \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 and resolve to tackle it with renewed vigour \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026 while holding to liberal and democratic values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because only they will ultimately secure our national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Te\u015fekk\u00fcr ederim.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ODFS Director Ribal Al-Assad today gave the keynote address to the World Affairs Councils of America in Washington, D.C. The World Affairs Councils of America is the largest non-profit grassroots organization in the United States dedicated to educating and engaging Americans on global issues with nearly 100 councils across 40 states reaching more than half […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1369,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-speeches","category-videos"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6225"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6232,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6225\/revisions\/6232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}