On 12 July, the al-arabiyya TV show sin’at al-mawt (Industry of death) featured an interview with a European counter terrorism expert. According to this individual, ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Iran are all active in Europe. However, some Europeans who fought in Iraq and Syria for ISIS went to Libya, others to Afghanistan, and yet others to the Philippines.
COMMENT: We reported previously on this site that Arabic news sources had revealed that Turkey has been transporting ISIS fighters from Syria to Libya to help prop-up the Turkey/Qatar supported Muslim Brotherhood government in Tripoli.
As for the ISIS fighters going to the mostly Catholic country of the Philippines, you can bet that they’re not going there to become Sunday school teachers. ISIS already has a strong presence in the predominantly Muslim portions of the southern Philippines.
EGYPT/IRAN
Amru Adeeb, talk show host of the al-hakaya (the story) program on MBC-Egypt, ranted extensively on Iran. He was under the impression that the majority of Egyptians commenting on social media indicated that the average Egyptian considers Iran to be a Gulf problem, or an American problem. Mr. Adeeb’s rant was to try to explain to the public that Iran is not just a danger to the Gulf and the international oil trade, but is a threat to the entire region, including Egypt.
COMMENT: Amru Adeeb’s political views generally reflect the official Egyptian government position. So, his rant about Iran appeared to me to possibly be an effort to not only wake the Egyptian people up, but to position public opinion more firmly behind the government’s policy of strategic alliance with Saudi Arabia and the UAE (both of whom help to keep Egypt’s economy propped up). The question remains, though, of how much military support would Egypt be willing to offer should a new Gulf war breakout?
MORE EGYPT
On 14 July, al-arabiyya TV reported that Kuwait has arrested eight Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood terrorists on its soil and was preparing to extradite them to Egypt.
But on the 15th of July al-arabiyya TV reported that Egypt had not yet asked for their extradition.
COMMENT: Of the six countries that have so far declared the Muslim Brotherhood to be a terrorist organization, Kuwait is not one of them, while Egypt is, having made that declaration in 2013 after the Obama/Hillary-supported MB government was deposed.
In the ongoing feud between Saudi Arabia and its allies vs. Qatar over its support of the MB and other terrorist groups, Kuwait had heretofore maintained a strict neutrality. So, this raises the question as to whether or not Kuwait might be reconsidering its stance on one, or both, of these issues. Could Kuwait soon become the 7th country to recognize the MB as a terrorist organization?
NOTE: The U.S. still a glaring no-show on that list.
TURKEY
The split developing in Turkey’s ruling AKP party is lifting the spirits of old Cold Warriors and NATO-philes in the West. These folks seem to think that Turkey’s rogue behavior is all the fault of Erdogan, and that once he is replaced Turkey will return back to its “normal” democratic, pro-West, NATO-loving self.
My response: Don’t hold your breath. Erdogan’s AKP party is a clone of the Muslim Brotherhood, so any split that occurs in the AKP is only a reflection of a new breed of Islamist trying to wrest control from Islamist Erdogan–but they will still be as Islamist, and as racist and Islamofascist as Erdogan.
This dissatisfaction with Erdogan has nothing to do with his imperial designs and yearning to restore the Ottoman Caliphate. It has everything to do with a slumping economy and a fear on the part of other Islamists and Turko-fascists that Erdogan was acquiring too much cult-like personal power for himself.
This view was shared by commentators contributing to al-arabiyya’s popular tafaalkom show.
NIGERIA/BURKINO FASO
During the 2014-15 election cycle in Nigeria, the Muslim (and former Military Dictator) Muhammad Buhari ran against the sitting, and democratically elected) President Goodluck Jonathan (a Christian).
U.S. President Obama tilted the scale in favor of Buhari by denying arms shipments to the sitting Christian President Goodluck Jonathan because Jonathan wanted to use these weapons against the terrorist group Boko Haram that was ravaging his country. Obama’s purpose was to make Jonathan look weak vis-à-vis terrorism so that Buhari could win the election.
Once Buhari was in power, his Fulani tribe began acting strangely like Boko Haram in terms of practicing genocide against Christian villages (surprise, surprise!). President Trump then doubled down on Obama’s perfidy by granting Buhari a warm reception in Washington in the spring of 2018.
Our media presented this visit as a great victory for Trump, when in reality it was a great victory for terrorism and the genocide of Africa’s remaining Christians. This is because Trump made a “nice” weapons deal with Buhari. Meanwhile, back in Africa, Buhari’s soldiers are using these weapons to aide Buhari’s Fulani tribesmen in exterminating Nigeria’s Christians.
But it gets worse, much worse. The Fulani tribe also spills over into nearby Bukino Faso. The Fulani tribe in Burkino Faso is openly allied to al-Qaeda and ISIS.
The Fulani tribe in Nigeria is famous for being very devout Muslims, and they produce the best Imams in sub-Saharan Africa.
Get the connection? Devout fundamentalist Muslims and Imams virtually across the border from their fellow tribesmen openly supporting al-Qaeda and ISIS . . . and in both countries you have persecution and genocide of Christians. Selling these people weapons is the last thing you want to do.
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Barry Webb has logged a 25-year career as an Arabist for the NSA, has two MA degrees in related subject matter, and is currently a Senior Fellow with Americans for Intelligence Reform. He is the author of Confessions of an (ex) NSA spy: Why America and its Allies are Losing the War on Terror. His website is www.barrywebbauthor.com
