SSB Awareness Series: All you need to know about ISIS - Part 2

In Part one of this series we saw the detailed role of participating countries and a brief introduction on how the things started , why it happened and how the situation worsened. Lets take the story forward and see the role of other countries which led to the control of the situation.

United Arab Emirates

The UAE was reported to have offered its air force to attack IS positions in Iraq before it participated in the military action in Syria in September 2014.

It is vehemently opposed to Islamist groups in the region and is believed to have launched air strikes on Islamist-allied militia in Libya from bases in Egypt in August 2014.

However, US officials have told the BBC that the UAE suspended its involvement in the strikes after the Jordanian pilot was captured.

Click here for : SSB Awareness Series: All you need to know about ISIS - Part 1
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Qatar

Qatar was another Gulf state to participate in or support the US-led military action against IS in Syria. The emirate is the location of Al Udeid Air Base, a highly-classified US facility from which all attack and surveillance missions in the region are coordinated by US Central Command (CentCom).

The Qatari government has been forced to repeatedly deny accusations from Iraq's Shia leaders that it provided financial support to IS. However, wealthy individuals in the emirate are believed to have made donations and the government has given money and weapons to hardline Islamist groups in Syria.

Doha is also believed to have links to the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate.

Bahrain

Bahrain has also participated in or supported the US-led military action against IS in Syria.

The kingdom hosts the headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, which is responsible for naval forces in the Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and parts of the Indian Ocean.

Turkey

Turkey is eager to defeat IS, which has advanced into territory along its borders with Syria and Iraq.

Turkey believes that the deadly bombings in the border town of Suruc, in July 2015, which killed 32 youth activists, and in the capital Ankara in October, which killed nearly 100, were carried out by IS.

Turkish jets have carried out attacks on IS positions in Syria, and the Nato member is allowing US jets to use its southern Incirlik air base.

Turkey v Islamic State v the Kurds

Jihadist militants have also carried out a series of deadly bombings in Beirut and elsewhere. They have mostly targeted Iranian facilities and Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia Islamist group whose fighters have played a key role in helping turn the tide in President Assad's favor.

Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam has warned that the spread of IS poses "a big test that our destiny depends on". His country's many religious and political factions have been urged to put aside their differences to ensure the group does not establish a foothold.

Other Arab states

Egypt, Kuwait, and Oman joined Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon in signing a communique at a meeting in Jeddah that declared their "shared commitment to stand united against the threat posed by all terrorism". They pledged to provide military support and humanitarian aid, and to halt the flow of funds and foreign fighters to IS.

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France

France was part of the US-led coalition targeting IS in Iraq from September 2014. In September 2015 it carried out its first raids on targets in Syria.

President Francois Hollande vowed to intensify strikes against IS after the group said it was behind the deadly attacks in Paris of 13 November 2015.

United Kingdom

The UK parliament voted in December 2015 to extend its bombing campaign against IS in Iraq to targets in Syria. The motion to strike targets in Syria was put forward by the Conservative government and opposed by the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Corbyn urged Labour MPs to vote against the strikes but allowed them a free vote, and 67 MPs voted in favor. UK strikes began the night of the vote, with RAF Tornados bombing an IS-controlled Omar oil fields in eastern Syria.

The UK parliament had in 2013 voted against strikes in Syria. It approved British air strikes against IS targets in Iraq in September 2014.

Other European Union countries

Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands are part of the US-led coalition carrying out strikes in Iraq.

On 4 December 2015, the German parliament backed plans for the country to join the fight against IS in Syria, three weeks after the Paris attacks in November 2015.

Germany previously provided weapons to Kurdish fighters but ruled out air strikes.

Canada and Australia

New Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has confirmed he will withdraw Canadian fighter jets from the air strikes against IS in Iraq and Syria, fulfilling a campaign pledge. He informed President Obama of his decision hours after winning Canada's general election in October 2015.Australia is part of the international military coalition targeting IS strongholds in Syria and Iraq. It launched its first air strikes inside Syria in September.

How can ISIS be stopped?

The world has actually had some real successes against ISIS over the past year or so. US-led bombing efforts, along with military campaigns on the ground in Iraq and by Kurdish groups in Syria, have taken away about 20 to 25 percent of ISIS's territory. Those are huge losses for the group.

·         Syria needs a peace deal: As long as the Syrian civil war is raging, defeating ISIS there may well be impossible. Assad doesn't want to fight ISIS because he's more worried about rebels, and the rebels don't want to focus on ISIS because they see Assad as their real enemy. Meanwhile, the war is a big, chaotic security vacuum, exactly the sort of environment where groups like ISIS thrive. It also perpetuates a sense among Syrian Sunnis that they need protection from the Shia regime — even if that means turning to ISIS. So the only way to really take on ISIS in Syria is to first find a peace deal between the Syrian regime and Syrian rebels. After the Paris attacks, world leaders are pushing hard for this, but the remaining hurdles are huge.

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·         Iraq's government needs to be fixed: Now that Maliki's been pushed out as prime minister, new PM Haider al-Abadi appears more inclined to reach out to Iraq's Sunni communities and build a more inclusive government. But many in Iraq oppose this, particularly hard-liner Shia groups and the government of Iran, which wants a Shia-dominated Iraq and has deep influence in Baghdad. And even if Abadi does all the right things, Iraqi Sunnis have learned over the past decade to fear and distrust any Shia government — it's going to take a lot to bring them around. This one is much easier than the other two, but it's still very hard.

·         Iran and Saudi Arabia need to back off their proxy war: They are both big drivers of Syria's civil war — fighting one another to the last Syrian, if that's what it takes. That makes them both big obstacles to any Syrian peace deal and thus to defeating ISIS. The irony is that both oppose ISIS and are supporting the fight against it. But they just care more about fighting one another and about getting their preferred outcome in Syria. Until their priorities shift, or they're somehow pressured to withdraw from Syria, they'll continue driving the civil war that helps sustain ISIS.
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About the Author: Ramandeep Singh gill from Delhi completed BSC in Hospitality and Hotel administration from IHM, PUSA. He loves to be surrounded by nature. Playing badminton is a stress buster for him. Great pet lover and interested in reading newspaper. Running and cycling always makes him feel energetic. Currently working as administration assistant cum IELTS Lecturer, he is a die heart defense aspirant.