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Strikes Against ISIS in Syria Draw Mixed Reactions in Middle East Strikes Against ISIS in Syria Draw Mixed Reactions in Middle East
(about 2 hours later)
BEIRUT — The Syrian rebel commander has been struggling for two years just to get ammunition for his men’s rifles and food to feed them, as they have sought to take ground from the military of President Bashar al-Assad while receiving only an erratic trickle of outside aid.BEIRUT — The Syrian rebel commander has been struggling for two years just to get ammunition for his men’s rifles and food to feed them, as they have sought to take ground from the military of President Bashar al-Assad while receiving only an erratic trickle of outside aid.
So he was amazed to wake up on Tuesday to the news that the United States and five Arab countries had begun a sweeping campaign of air and cruise-missile strikes in Syria — not against Mr. Assad‘s forces, but those of the Islamic State militants who also want to topple the Syrian government. So he was amazed to wake up on Tuesday to the news that the United States and five Arab countries had begun a sweeping campaign of air and cruise-missile strikes in Syria — not against Mr. Assad’s forces, but those of the Islamic State militants who also want to topple the Syrian government.
The commander said he wasn’t against the strikes, but thought the campaign’s priorities were out of order.The commander said he wasn’t against the strikes, but thought the campaign’s priorities were out of order.
“Our goal from the start has been to topple the regime, and then we can fight the Islamic State and the other extremists,” said the commander, who gave only his nickname, Abu Hussein, for fear of retribution from Islamist rebels. “It was Bashar who carried out all the massacres, and started the whole thing.”“Our goal from the start has been to topple the regime, and then we can fight the Islamic State and the other extremists,” said the commander, who gave only his nickname, Abu Hussein, for fear of retribution from Islamist rebels. “It was Bashar who carried out all the massacres, and started the whole thing.”
The new military intervention in Syria by the United States and five Arab allies has drawn mixed reactions across the Middle East, a region where many people hate the brutality of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, but are also deeply skeptical of the motives behind any type of foreign intervention. The new air campaign in Syria has drawn mixed reaction across the Middle East, a region where many people hate the brutality of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, but are also deeply skeptical of the motives behind any type of foreign intervention.
Looming over the new campaign are memories of recent American-led interventions in Libya and Iraq, which many Arabs welcomed at first but later turned against, because they led to new waves of instability and civil war. Looming over the new campaign are memories of recent American-led interventions in Libya and Iraq, which many Arabs welcomed at first but later turned against, because of the waves of instability and civil war that followed.
President Obama, who made his opposition to the Iraq war central to his presidential campaign, has insisted that the fight against the Islamic State will be different. Instead of putting American troops on the ground, the United States will support local forces in Syria and Iraq that can follow up airstrikes with work on the ground. President Obama, who made his opposition to the Iraq war central to his presidential campaign, has insisted that the fight against the Islamic State will be different. Instead of putting American troops on the ground, the United States will support local forces in Syria and Iraq.
Regime change has never been mentioned as a goal, and the participation of Arab states has been regarded as crucial, to deflect any criticism that the United States was going to war against Muslims.Regime change has never been mentioned as a goal, and the participation of Arab states has been regarded as crucial, to deflect any criticism that the United States was going to war against Muslims.
Some of the Arab participants, especially Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have been heavily involved in Syria’s civil war for years, so joining the international coalition is merely a new, more direct form of intervention for them. Some of the Arab participants, especially Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have been heavily involved in Syria’s civil war for years, so joining the international coalition is merely a new, more direct form of intervention for them. Saudi Arabia, along with others like Jordan and Bahrain, worries that their citizens who have gone to join the Islamic State forces will later return and plot attacks at home. And the United Arab Emirates has supported efforts to combat a range of Islamist movements across the region.
Saudi Arabia, along with others like Jordan and Bahrain, worries that their citizens who have gone to join the Islamic State forces will later return and plot attacks at home.
And the United Arab Emirates has supported efforts to combat a range of Islamist movements across the region.
“This is the right way to do it, if you want to defeat the Islamic State, because you cannot cut off the tail and leave the head,” said Ebtesam Al Ketbi, the chairwoman of the Emirates Policy Center. “And everyone is participating, so no one can accuse the United States alone.”“This is the right way to do it, if you want to defeat the Islamic State, because you cannot cut off the tail and leave the head,” said Ebtesam Al Ketbi, the chairwoman of the Emirates Policy Center. “And everyone is participating, so no one can accuse the United States alone.”
Others see the Islamic State as spreading an abhorrent interpretation of Islam and support the fight against it. Others support the fight against the Islamic State because they see the group as spreading an abhorrent interpretation of Islam.
“They are a minority of extremists who have nothing to do with the rest of the world’s Muslims,” said Issa Alghaith, a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council.“They are a minority of extremists who have nothing to do with the rest of the world’s Muslims,” said Issa Alghaith, a member of Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council.
In Baghdad, the city with perhaps the most experience of American-led airstrikes, many people lauded the bombing of Raqqa, the extremists’ de facto capital in Syria, and faulted the air campaign only for not happening sooner.In Baghdad, the city with perhaps the most experience of American-led airstrikes, many people lauded the bombing of Raqqa, the extremists’ de facto capital in Syria, and faulted the air campaign only for not happening sooner.
“The American reaction to the situation in Iraq is late,” said Kadhem el-Maqdadi, a journalist and commentator in Baghdad. The United States agreed to help Iraq if it was under attack, he noted, “but their help came after the ISIS virus had spread throughout Iraq.” “The American reaction to the situation in Iraq is late,” said Kadhem el-Maqdadi, an Iraqi journalist and commentator. The United States agreed to help Iraq if it was under attack, he noted, “but their help came after the ISIS virus had spread throughout Iraq.”
He said that the airstrikes alone would not defeat the militants. “Wars are fought mainly on the ground, and air support can help but they can’t fix the problem,” he said. He said that the airstrikes alone would not defeat the militants. “Wars are fought mainly on the ground, and air support can help, but they can’t fix the problem,” he said.
The predawn strikes shook the city of Raqqa, rattling residents’ windows and knocking out the electricity. Many Islamic State fighters left the city, fearing further strikes. Others collected pieces of an aerial vehicle that crashed into a broadcast tower and fell to pieces on the pavement, according to photos posted online. Elsewhere in the region, there was a familiar current of cynicism about motives behind the American-led strikes. In a column on Tuesday in Al Ahram, a state-run newspaper in Egypt, Massoud al-Hennawi wrote that Washington and its allies were using because “they want to divide our lands, destroy our nations, occupy our homelands, and monopolize our choices, without shedding one drop of their blue blood.”
Many people in Syria said they were happy to see the Islamic State’s grip on the city weakened, but expressed concern that government troops might use the airstrikes as an opportunity to advance. “They have no problem that our cheap Arab blood flows in rivers, if it achieves their goals and purposes,” he continued.
In the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, which the Islamic State had almost entirely taken over, Anwar Abu Omran said that many residents were pleased with the news. The government of Egypt, however, favors the air campaign, and the state newspaper’s website omitted the column once the strikes in Syria had taken place.
The airstrikes shook the city of Raqqa before dawn, rattling windows and knocking out electricity. Many Islamic State fighters left the city, fearing further strikes. Others collected pieces of an aerial vehicle that crashed into a broadcast tower and fell to pieces on the pavement, according to photos posted online.
The Syrian government appeared unruffled by the strikes, probably because it was glad to see military power brought to bear against forces that had recently killed many of its soldiers. After insisting for weeks that any airstrikes on its territory that were not coordinated with government forces would be considered an act of “aggression,” Syrian officials claimed on Tuesday that its ambassador to the United Nations and its foreign minister had been informed of the strikes ahead of time.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry also said in a statement that the government supports “any international effort to fight terrorism,” but that it must be done in a way that protects civilian lives.
That response stood in contrast to those of Syria’s international allies, which were critical of the air campaign. Iran, which has backed Mr. Assad financially and militarily throughout the conflict, complained that his government had been bypassed.
The Iranian deputy foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, called the campaign a “Hollywood adventure" that would not stop terrorism in Syria.
Echoing earlier remarks by Iran’s highest leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mr. Amir Abdollahian accused the United States of trying to regain a military foothold in the Middle East by fighting a group that Iran has accused the United States of creating.
President Hassan Rouhani, in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, said the airstrikes in Syria violated international law and would accomplish little.
“Is it not paradoxical that a country says it wants to fight a terrorist group in Syria, but on the other hand creates armed terrorist groups to fight the central government?” Mr. Rouhani was quoted by the Iranian news agency Tasnim as saying, referring to the United States’s support of Syrian rebel groups that it sees as more moderate. Mr. Rouhani said that to combat terrorism in Syria, the first task was to help the government restore stability.
In addition to Islamic State sites, the United States struck bases belonging to the Nusra Front, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, drawing condemnation from the group’s members and supporters. “Crusader airplanes strike the Nusra Front,” wrote Sami al-Oreidi, a cleric with the group in southern Syria. Eyad al-Qunaibi, a Jordanian preacher who supports the group, said its members should be considered martyrs.
Many ordinary Syrians said they were happy to see the Islamic State’s grip weakened by the airstrikes, though they were concerned that government troops might use the airstrikes as an opportunity to advance.
In the eastern province of Deir al-Zour, which the Islamic State had almost entirely taken over, Anwar Abu Omran said that many residents there were pleased with the news.
“People in Deir al-Zour are very happy, and they are trying so hard to hide their smiles from the Islamic State members, because they hate them more than they hate the regime,” he said.“People in Deir al-Zour are very happy, and they are trying so hard to hide their smiles from the Islamic State members, because they hate them more than they hate the regime,” he said.
Syrians who support the government said that they, too, were happy to see the group hit, but were worried about the ultimate goals of the American and Arab coalition.Syrians who support the government said that they, too, were happy to see the group hit, but were worried about the ultimate goals of the American and Arab coalition.
“I don’t trust the coalition,” said Jamal, a local official who lives in a Shiite village in Idlib Province. “They might take advantage of the situation and hit important locations, like the airport where the regime is, and I am afraid of errors.”“I don’t trust the coalition,” said Jamal, a local official who lives in a Shiite village in Idlib Province. “They might take advantage of the situation and hit important locations, like the airport where the regime is, and I am afraid of errors.”