The Coalition for Counter-Terrorism Airstrikes and the Indifference of Some Countries : A Critical Study

Daesh or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is one of the most intimidating terrorist groups of contemporary world. In addition to many statements, resolutions and meetings, various airstrikes have been organized by different countries to counteract the terrorist group of ISIS. However, the use and success of these airstrikes are open to doubt. Given the significance of having a better understanding of this topic and finding an efficient method to fight and eradicate terrorism, the present essay analyzes the issue in its multifaceted dimensions. More specifically, the essay investigates the role of the coalition for the use of airstrikes and the indifference of some countries to the problem. In doing so, first a definition and brief survey of the concept of terrorism are given. Then, the rise of ISIS and its beliefs are discussed, followed by discussing the role of anti-ISIS coalition and the different meetings in fighting ISIS with an emphasis on the use and efficiency of airstrikes. Finally, a conclusion of the discussion is presented.

instances with regard to terrorism all testify to the significance and complexity of the issue of terrorism and the need for a comprehensive analysis of its different aspects.Therefore, the present essay investigates the role of anti-ISIS airstrikes and the indifference of some countries.First, a definition and characteristics of terrorism are given.Then, the rise and formation of ISIS are discussed, followed by the role of the coalition for the use of anti-ISIS airstrikes.Of particular importance are the efficiency of airstrikes and the indifference of some countries in this regard.

The Definition of Terrorism
Terrorism is an ambiguous term in international affairs.Given the complexity of the term and what can be considered terrorism, one can say that the concept suffers from a "semantic crisis".The concept of terrorism is one of the terms that is repeatedly used by different people and organizations.However, there is no consensus as to the meaning of the term, and thus, each time it is used it may mean something different.Terrorism comes from terror, i.e. fear, intimidation and dread.It refers to "the illegal and violent activities of certain governments in suppressing the opponents and intimidating them.Also, it refers to militant groups who commit acts of violence and intimidation in achieving their political goals."Terrorism is associated with an action which evokes in its essence a sense of fear, panic and intimidation.

The Characteristics of Terrorism
Some scholars have tried to describe the main characteristics of terrorism which can be summarized as in the following: a. Intimidation, threatening and the illegal use of violence.It is clear that the resistance of Palestinians against Israel cannot be considered terrorism because based on international laws, such oppositions are legal and allowed.
b.The intention to intimidate all or a group of people c. Achieving political or ideological aims Some other characteristics of terrorism which are shared by most definitions include: 1. Organized nature of terrorist acts 2. Inclusion of high degree of violence 3. Unpredictability of attacks Some scholars consider the two following elements as the main features of terrorism: a.Using violence as a strategy for intimidation b.Using the element of surprise/shock which enables the terrorists to choose the time and place of attacks

Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (Daesh)
Following the United States of America and its allies' attacks to Iraq, Al-Qaeda announced its activities with the slogan of fighting the soldiers of the cross.The group of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, known as "Al-Qaeda in the Land of Mesopotamia", which worked under the leadership of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, not only began organizing attacks against the foreign invasions, but also levelled violent attacks against the citizens of newly established state of Iraq, especially Shite Muslims, under the pretext calling them non-believers.With the death of Zarqawi in 2007, small groups of jihadists such as the Council of the Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Alfathyn, Alshabh Jund Ansar Ansar al-Tohid, Sunnah, etc. came into power under the title of "Islamic State of Iraq" and was led by Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.The group was weakened for a while because of the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, the attacks of Iraqi army and tribal groups known as the "Awakening Council".However, it was revitalized with the emergence of a crisis in Syria.Al-Baghdadi expanded his activities in Syria, and then his organization came to be known as the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant", referred to as ISIS or Daesh.Most scholars note that the use of Levant instead of Syria which refers to a larger area including Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, some parts of western Iraq and the desert of Sinai signifies the ideology of this group.To put it differently, the leaders of ISIS tried to show their idea of returning to the authoritative time of Umayyad Caliphate by choosing this name.The later changing of the name of the group into "Islamic State" indicates the ambitious idealism of the leaders of this takfiri group in that it signifies that the group is thinking of establishing a state which governs the whole world, not just Syria.The military activities of ISIS first began in Syria.Having claimed independence from other extremist groups, ISIS could succeed in capturing parts of northern Syria and the entire province of Raqqa.Along with the military invasion against Syria, ISIS invaded Iraq and succeeded in capturing Ramadi and Fallujah -the capital of province of Anbar in Iraq.In 2014, ISIS expanded its military activities and could seize Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and a large part of Iraq, including Tikrit.Then it increased its territory in Syria and could gradually capture the areas which were occupied by other Syrian insurgence groups, including other opponents of Deir Ezzor and Hasaka.Until July, ISIS had captured third of Syrian territory and large parts of Iraq.It now occupies many oil-rich parts of Syria and Iraq.However, the terrorist activities of ISIS are not limited to Syria or Iraq, and several attacks have been reported in Jordan.ISIS has announced war with Jordan.Having captured Mosul, a statement was issued for establishing an Islamic state under the caliphate of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.It then increased the activities of its government in Syria (including printing dinar banknotes, ISIS passports, police units, importing oil, launching television networks, organizing tourist tours).It then changed its name from "Islamic State of Iraq and Levant" to "Islamic State".Because of its strict rules and sever punishments, the Islamic State became immediately known around the world.ISIS is in fact the continuation of the activities of a Salafi jihadist group in Iraq led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.The Zarqawi group was part of Al-Qaeda and whose leader was killed in 2006 in Iraq.In his declarations he always referred to the fatwa of Ibn Taymiyyah.The caliphate of Mosul considers himself to be a follower of Ibn Taymiyyah too.In fact, Ibn Taymiyyah is the spiritual father of all jihadi groups.His ideas are clear and straightforward.He is totally against rationality unless such rational reasoning confirms the teaching of prophets.He considers any form of negotiation and contact with the takfiri and non-believers as prohibited.He also rejected such ideas as Shi'ite Islam and considers them infidels.The jihadi groups believe that it is their religious duty according to sharia to found a religious state.ISIS is known for its harsh Wahhabi interpretation of Islam and extreme violence against Shiites and Christians.The violence of ISIS has made other Islamist Salafi groups such as al-Nusra Front, an official branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria, to enter into war with it.In February 2014, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda leader, formally rejected any alliance of this group to al-Qaeda.ISIS practices strict rules of Sharia in the cities under its control, such as in Raqqa (Syria).The hands of thieves are cut off in public, mass executions are done every day, and the women are not allowed even to visit a doctor.ISIS established certain offices in Syria known as "Hesba" set up to oversee the implementation of Islamic law.Other offices known as "Dava [dispute" to explain and promote ISIS ideology.The forces of this Islamist extremist group have published photos in the social media showing that those people who do not observe fasting in Ramazan are flogged in public in ISIS-governed cities.Any business in the ISIS-governed cities by other people without the authorization of ISIS is not allowed by this Islamist extremist group.With regard to the rule of hijab, that is the rule saying that the women must wear obligatory veils over their faces and bodies, ISIS has threatened the women of Mosul that they will be severely punished if they do not follow the rules.In a public statement made by ISIS, it has been declared that the rules concerning wearing hijab is to prevent corruption and showcasing the women's body.This according to their view is not a limitation to their freedom; rather it is supposed to prevent corruption.The statement also says anyone who does not follow the rules causes corruption and will therefore face a severe punishment so that the religion of Muslim societies should be protected.According to Abdul-Wahab Forati, the main reason for the fact that many Muslim Arab and non-Arab people who are attracted to ISIS is the ideology of this group.The ideology of this group is very simple.They do not deal with theoretical discussions.This ideology is extremely radical; it is not conservative; it is highly pragmatic.In the ideology of ISIS, one and half milliard of Muslims around the world are takfiri.With regard to the geographical areas under the control of ISIS, it can be noted that currently it has seized power of large parts of Syria and Iraq.The aim of ISIS is to gain control over all of Iraq and Levant.Their map also encompasses the Arabic Peninsula, North Africa and Andalusia to Khorasan.It was during the Syrian civil war that ISIS first claimed independence.ISIS fought other rebel and militant and even terrorist groups such as al-Nusrat Front.It then entered Iraq and expanded its activities there.ISIS suffered several defeats from al-Nusrat Front in Syria.However, it seized power over Mosul, the second largest city of Iraq, in 2014.ISIS has claimed to found an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and has captured Mosul, Tikrit areas, Dehlaviyeh and Yathrib.ISIS explicitly states that its goal is to establish an Islamic state.According to the estimation of CIA, the number of a militia-led Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is between 20 thousand to 31 thousand and five hundred people.In the wake of the expanded activities and operations of Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, known also as Daesh or Islamic State, during July and June of 2014 some countries decided to intervene in the civil wars of Iraq and Syria.One of the reasons for this was the fact that ISIS had been able to seize power over large areas of Iraq and Syria using brutal violence.Because of different political reasons, many countries decided to join this intervention program.In August 2014, the United States of America created a coalition group of its allies to organize military attacks against ISIS.Different countries participated in this coalition to offer their help with regard to air and ground forces and other military actions.Among these countries one can mention Iraq, Syria, USA, Iran, Canada, Egypt, France, and England.Following the murder of an American journalist, President Barack Obama called ISIS a cancer tumor and said: "there has to be a common effort to extract this cancer so that it does not spread.There has to be a clear rejection of this kind of nihilistic ideologies.One thing we can all agree on is that a group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century.Friends and allies around the world, we share a common security and a common set of values that are rooted in the opposite of what we saw yesterday.And we will continue to confront this hateful terrorism and replace it with a sense of hope and civility.Our objective is clear, and that is: degrade and destroy ISIL so that it's no longer a threat, not just to Iraq but also to the region and to the United States.When people harm Americans anywhere, we do what's necessary to see that justice is done and we act against ISIL, standing alongside others.The people of Iraq, who with our support are taking the fight to ISIL must continue coming together to expel these terrorists from their community.The people of Syria, whose story Jim Foley told, do not deserve to live under the shadow of a tyrant or terrorists.They have our support in their pursuit of a future rooted in dignity".Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari also called ISIS cancer who do evil acts.British nd French Prime Ministers considered ISIS barbaric and called for the group's actions against it.French Foreign Minister asked other countries, including Iran, to join the coalition against ISIS in Iraq.On the other hand, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran has called ISIS the puppet toy of England, saying that "This is an imperialist policy, especially the policy of the great fox [England].They have created ISIS and Al-Qaeda to oppose the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Arab Spring.But, the plan has backfired.The efforts of USA and its allies to fight ISIS is not real; rather than trying to eradicate ISIS, they are trying to add oil to the flame of conflicts among Muslims of the world".

The International Reaction against ISIS
Despite the fact that ISIS has control over several cities and has chosen Mosul as the center of its Islamic caliphate government, calling it the Islamic State, such a state has not been considered as a legal government by any internal law.The United Nations, Israel, Philippines, Malaysia and the western and Middle Eastern media have called ISIS a terrorist group.USA, Britain, Indonesia, Australia, Canada and Saudi Arabia have considered ISIS as a foreign terrorist organization.The UN and International Amnesty have considered ISIS as violating the human rights.According to the UN and some of the world leaders of countries like Iraq, France, USA and Britain, ISIS is a worldwide danger, therefore, it should be listed as terrorist and war criminals.In support of the government of Iraq, the USA has claimed that "all options to help the government of Iraq are on the table".The UN has condemned the terrorist attacks of ISIS (Daesh) and has announced that this group should be listed as terrorist and war criminals.In 2014, the UN Security Council passed a statement (no.2170, meeting no.7242) based on the seventh chapter of the constitution of the organization, containing an introduction, 24 clauses and 6 appendices, to announce that ISIS is a terrorist group and must be destroyed.This statement referred to previous statements with regard to terrorist and demanded the members of UN to take appropriate measures in imposing economic sanctions against this group and implanting other forces.According to the statement no.1452 (2002) of the UN, all countries are supposed to oppose such groups and all members of UN should include such groups as non-trade ones.The Security Council resolution calls for the disbanding and disarmament of Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State, and includes six of its supporters on the sanction list.

Syrian Allies
The so-called allies of Syria refers to the group of countries and international organizations which were created outside of the Security Council in order to find a solution to the crisis of Syria.The reason for creating the group was the fact that China and Russia vetoed the anti-Syria resolution passed in the Security Council, as a result of which anti-Syria countries were not able to impose pressures against the Syrian government.The creation of a group under the name of allies of Syria was first proposed by the previous French president, Nicolas Sarkozy.The first meeting of the group was held in 2011 in Tunisia.The second meeting in 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey.In the closing statement issued by the meeting of allies of Syria in Istanbul it was reiterated that the "National Syrian Council" which was made of different groups who opposed Bashar Al-Assad, be considered as legal and demanded that Bashar Al-Assad must be ousted and replaced by another person.The so-called allies of Syria continued their meetings, but each time a member resigned from the meeting.Given the stability of Syrian government and the failure of the opposing group under the name of "National Council of Syria", the group was cancelled.What is known today as ant-ISIS coalition is in fact the continuation of the alliance of Syria because it basically includes the same anti-Syrian countries like USA, England, France, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.In fact, it can be noted that the anti-Syria front has changed its title and strategies but has started new movements to impose more pressure on the government of Syria and the resistance.The name of this group, namely, coalition against ISIS (Daesh), uses the new strategy of fighting the terrorist group of ISIS and other takfiri groups in Syria instead of fighting directly with Syria.However, it is clear that fighting ISIS, which is in reality made by these countries themselves, is just a pretext under which more important aims are to be achieved to which the following section is allocated.

The International Coalition against ISIS
According to the foreign ministry of USA, forty countries have agreed to join the coalition against ISIS.The aim of this coalition is to cooperate and have a clear plan to fight against the threats made by ISIS.Each of these countries will have a special role.However, not all of them will deal with direct military support of Iraqi government.The coalition has been trying to stop the trading routes of ISIS and prevent foreign and ideological support of ISIS.Ten Arab countries, namely, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates participated in this meeting.These countries agreed to cooperate with USA in fighting the Islamic State (Daesh).They agreed to unite against the financial transactions of ISIS and the joining of new members to this group.The USA may in addition to organizing airstrikes against the ISIS soldiers in Iraq, employ ground military force in Syria.Russia has warned that such an action without the permission of US is a clear violation of Syrian territories and therefore violation of international law.Initially, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, after having been discharged from the hospital, said in an interview with the national TV journalist, that the coalition against ISIS is just a new game and added that the Islamic Republic of Iran is proud about not having joined this USA-led coalition.He also announced that USA has proposed Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign minister of Iran, to join the coalition, but Zarif had rejected the proposition.

Results
There have been three meetings: Jeddah meeting, Paris meeting and the Security Council meeting.These are discussed in details in the following: Jeddah meeting: The first regional coalition was held in a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.The meeting was held with the participation of some of the countries in the region.It was a preliminary meeting and by the end of the meeting, the 11 countries which had participated in the Jeddah meeting issued a statement according which they emphasized the need for cooperation in fighting ISIS.The USA along with 6 Persian Gulf countries, and Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq were among the participants in the Jeddah meeting.The participants in the meeting agreed in their closing statement that each of the countries should play a special role in the worldwide fight against ISIS.These roles included preventing the foreign terrorists to join ISIS from the neighboring countries, opposing any financial support of ISIS and other extremist groups, fighting the hate/terror ideology of ISIS, participation in aid and reconstruction programs of the areas attacked by ISIS, and cooperating with the countries which fight ISIS.One important point is that Saudi Arabia used to be one of the supporters of Islamic State, but now seems to be opposing ISIS.The Saudi officials need on one hand to support USA policies for the region and on the other hand, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS (Daesh) has threatened to attack Saudi Arabia.This is so because currently the ISIS terrorists are located at borders near Saudi Arabia and therefore the officials of Saudi Arabia are afraid that one day their country will be targeted by ISIS.
Paris meeting: Following the Jeddah meeting, another meeting was held in Paris in opposition to ISIS.The Paris meeting closed by issuing a statement which emphasized the need for supporting Iraq by any means in the face of terrorism (the statement was in 10 clauses).The participants included England, USA, France, Germany, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech, Denmark, Netherlands, Iraq, Egypt, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Norway, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, UAE, United Arabs and UN.The meeting supported the government by Haider al-Abadi and asked for implementing rules and the law, the policy of inclusion and the guarantee that all groups must be equally included in federal institutions and also the citizens must be treated equally.In the closing statement of the meeting of Paris, it was empathized that the terrorists must be prosecuted.Also, it was noted that ISIS is not only a danger for Iraq but a threat to whole world.The Islamic Republic of Iran did not participate in the meeting.However, Fuad Masoom, the president of Iraq, appreciated the support of Iran in fighting ISIS.Ibrahim Jafari, the foreign minister of Iraq noted that Iran must have been invited to the meeting.

Security Council meeting:
The next meeting was held in the security council of UN with the participation of 39 representative from different countries.This meeting condemned the crimes of ISIS once more.John Kerry, the foreign minister of USA, who had previously said that Iran was never invited to join the anti-ISIS coalition, said in the beginning of the Security Council meeting that, "we want Iran to play a role in the anti-ISIS coalition."He pointed out that it is necessary that Iran participates in the fight against ISIS and added: there are many representatives in this meeting.This indicates that we need to support the new government of Iraq and end the brutalities of ISIS.John Kerry also accused the Syrian government in strengthening ISIS and said: It is necessary to support the Syrian opponents to fight ISIS.The foreign minister of Iraq in this meeting noted that ISIS has targeted all ethnicities and groups of Iraq and added that the only way to fight ISIS is to fight the takfiri ideology.
In the last couple of months, the UN Security Council has expressed its concerns about the security of Middle East and has condemned the ISIS attacks in Iraq by issuing resolution no, 2170.It also warned that those who have caused these attacks will be condemned of acting crimes against the humanity.It seems that the USA, as the leader of anti-ISIS coalition, intends to legitimize its own actions in the region by relying on international organizations such as the UN.It is predicted that such actions will go beyond the ostensive measures against the Islamic State.The main aim of such actions is to increase the dominance of USA in the Middle East.

Anti-ISIS Airstrikes
In August 2014, Barack Obama, the president of United States of America announced that the American Air Force has begun airlifting humanitarian aid to Iraqi refugees and for threatening US interests in Iraq, and has allowed US warplanes to attack the Islamic State.America's president's remarks were made after a senior defense ministry official confirmed that one of America's military transport aircraft had flown over the territory of Iraq, to provide humanitarian aid such as food, water and essential supplies for the refugees.Obama also added: "USA cannot and should not act any crisis".However, Obama emphasized that the US soldiers will not go back to Iraq.It is reported that since the beginning of the program, almost 2000 airstrikes have been shot.More than 1600 of these were organized by the USA.
The USA has also published some videos to confirm its anti-ISIS and anti-terrorism airstrikes.Other countries like France, Canada and Egypt have also tried to attack the ISIS.
Most of these attacks are done with purpose other than to undermine the Islamic State and as mere excuses and cover for other purposes.For example, the air raid in Tikrit done by France, it can be said that it was a cover of the coalition against the French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" aircraft based in the Persian Gulf to establish in the UAE and Jordan.This is ironic given the fact that many believe that most of these airstrikes have not only undermined ISIS but has also helped strengthen the ISIS forces.Based on different news agencies and statistics, only one percent of ISIS-controlled areas have been freed since the beginning of the airstrikes (8 August 2014).
The president of Syria (cited from PRESS TV) has noted that some Americans try to hide behind the facts and claim that the conditions have improved and that ISIS is about to be destroyed while it is not so at all and ISIS has recruited more people.Bashar Al-Assad also referred to the growing expansion of ISIS and noted that some estimations show that they recruit one thousand forces in Syria and Iraq each month.Moreover, Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister also announced that air strikes of America seem trivial, small-scale and not an efficient way of combating the Islamic State; the best way to fight ISIS is battle ground.

Discussion
Given the above discussion it is clear that the so-called coalition to fight the terrorist group of ISIS is another episode in the conspiracy of the USA in achieving its imperialist aims.The west and its allies are preparing a new scenario of creating and destroying a terrorist group.In that scenario, as a result of airstrikes and ground battles, ISIS (Daesh) which was created by the countries themselves, will be possibly destroyed and therefore the USA and its allies will once again be called the heroes of fighting terrorism!This dangerous cycle of games which has imposed immense costs on the region and the Islamic world will not definitely stopped in this stage.The scenario of reproducing terrorist groups with a takfiri stance and with new names and affiliations, in the critical area of Middle East, will continue; a scenario which undermine the unity of Muslims and help achieve the aims and western powers and the security of the Zionist regime.It seems that the Islamic world has an important responsibility on its shoulders under these circumstances.First, it is necessary to have a cultural and intellectual movement to prevent extremist groups and stop the formation of tribal conflicts in the region.Second, the Muslim countries should become aware of the conspiracies of the western imperialist and Zionist countries for their domination over the region and try to oppose them; such conspiracies intend to impose the imperialist policy of "create conflict and rule" have been practiced since a long time to undermine the unity and identity of the Muslim world.
On the other hand, it seems that different countries are trying to achieve their own goals under the pretext of anti-ISIS airstrikes.These should be taken into consideration so that imperialist and domination policies would be prevented.