Ahmed Al-Jarallah – Editor-in-Chief, the Arab TimesEGYPTIANS have an adage regarding a person who fell into the trap he set for others: “He brought the genie and he could not dismiss it.” This adage is applicable to countries which sought the assistance of militias, similar to what happened in Afghanistan when the United States of America and several Arab countries supported Afghan ‘jihadists’ in order to defeat the Soviet invaders.
Yet, when the Russian forces withdrew, these countries failed to dismiss the genie that they brought. Moreover, the entire world witnessed a number of terrible crimes committed by al-Qaeda on Sept 11, 2001; besides other terrorist crimes against harmless people in Saudi Arabia and many Arab and European countries.
Earlier, we saw who Israel had supported with the approval of America; prompting the Brotherhood to destroy Egypt and establish a security belt to protect itself from what it claims to be a threat posed by Arab countries. Meanwhile, the main goal is to destroy Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries which represent the core of international economy in order to redraw the map of the region according to its strategic interests. Nonetheless, it failed to achieve its goal.
The lethal mistake is repeated with all terrorist groups. It does not exempt Hezbollah, al-Nusrah and Bait Al-Maqdis supporters among others. Unfortunately, when these countries failed to get rid of what they created to achieve their goals; they started dealing with terrorist groups, hoping to keep themselves away from their evil. This was clearly reflected in what happened after endorsing the Iranian nuclear agreement.
The international community persisted in categorizing Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in a bid to put pressure on Iran during the nuclear negotiations. However, we saw later how these countries withdrew their stance and removed the group from the terrorism list. In addition, they started to deal with Taleban and had indirect talks with al-Qaeda after failing to dismantle it.
Does it not mean these countries do not have another method of handling conflicts with their rivals? Otherwise, they should have learned from the Afghan experience and other previous Marxian revolutionary organizations? We saw how they fell into the trap they set for others in Syria and Iraq.
DAESH, which was formed to put pressure on Iran and other territorial powers, has turned to Europeans and western people. Iran and Israel have converted the group into a tool for blackmailing their adversaries. Accordingly, the group started committing corruption everywhere. The recent incidents in France and the horror which Belgium is suffering today are the natural results of the inability to dismiss the genie which they brought.
The problem will not be solved through slogans raised by the American president, as these slogans serve the interests of those contesting the presidential elections. It cannot be settled through the immediate retaliation practiced by Russia and France like the air strikes in Syria, because the terrorists do not care about infrastructure or the lives of innocent people. Terrorists are like monkeys which jump from one place to another once they feel they are in danger, leaving others behind to pay for their crimes.
Therefore, the only solution is to wage an international war on land against terrorist organizations. It is necessary to put the terrorism list on the international table to look into the reasons behind such acts; while these countries should change the method of managing their conflicts and then get out of the bottleneck of failure.
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah - Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
