Muslim nations form coalition to fight terror, call Islamic extremism ‘disease’
Calling Islamic extremism a disease, Saudi Arabia has announced the formation of a coalition of 34 predominately Muslim nations to fight terrorism.
“This announcement comes from the Islamic world’s vigilance in fighting this disease so it can be a partner, as a group of countries, in the fight against this disease,” Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman said.
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The coalition’s joint operations center will be based in Riyadh.
In addition to Saudi Arabia, the coalition will include Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Turkey, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Djibouti, Senegal, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Gabon, Guinea, the Palestinians, Comoros, Qatar, Cote d’Ivoire, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria and Yemen.
This seems to be the “Arab army” the two amigos, Lindsey Graham and John McCain, announced earlier:
Defense One: How are you planning on getting the Arab countries to put up 90 percent of the ground forces you’re calling for if we can’t even get them to put up in the air coalition?
Graham: Well, they’re not —
McCain: — If Bashar Assad is also the target, that’s the key to it … they fear Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by the Iranians, as much as they do ISIS.
Defense One: Sen. Graham, so if we promise them they can also target Assad, they’ll get in?
McCain: We would also target Assad. Assad right now is killing the people we armed and trained and equipped.
Graham: I can only tell you what they tell us. I’m not joking. The king of Saudi Arabia’s chief advisor said, ‘You can have our army.’ The emir of Qatar says, ‘I’ll pay for the war.’
They want to do two things: they want to stop ISIL before they come in and take their countries over or disrupt their way of life, and they also want to make sure Damascus doesn’t fall into the hands of the Iranians. I’m down for both.
It may well be that Mohammed bin Salman, as well as McCain and Graham, drank too much fermented camel milk. Neither the Saudis nor the Qataris nor any “coalition member” will send their armies to fight in Syria or Iraq.
The reactions from some “members” of the just announced Saudi “coalition” make that obvious.
•Pakistan surprised by its inclusion in 34-nation military alliance
•Malaysia not involved in anti-terrorist military coalition, says Defence Minister
•Lebanon FM says not member of Saudi anti-terror coalition
•Indonesia yet to decide on Saudi-led military coalition (added after posting)
•more to follow …
The Deputy Crown Prince launched a war on Yemen that goes on without any gain at all but with serious Saudi losses:
Gen. Sharaf Ghaleb Luqman, a military spokesman for the Houthi rebels, said in a telephone interview Monday that 146 “enemy soldiers and mercenaries in Bab al Mandab, including foreigners,” were killed when a Houthi rocket struck the “enemy operations command” in Taizz province.
The slain troops included 23 Saudis, nine Emiratis and 12 Moroccan officers, according to Houthi news outlets. There was no independent confirmation of the death toll.
The dead included Saudi Col. Abdullah Sahyan, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
Parts of three Saudi provinces are now occupied by forces troops. Four special regiments from the Saudi Interior Ministry were just called up to clear the areas the Saudi regular army, under Mohammed bin Salman’s command, can not hold.
Another embarrassment for the Salman clan is the hajj stampede in Mecca which the Saudi insists killed only 769 while news agencies find that at least 2,411 were killed.
When will the other members of the wider Saudi family dump these dupes? Is there someone else who could do this?
By Moon Of Alabama
See also –Britain to support newly-formed Muslim nations’ ‘ground army’ against Isil: UK facing the prospect of being dragged further into the war in Syria by providing command and control, intelligence and air support to troops from the new coalition of Muslim nations against Islamic State jihadis