Turkey as NonPakistan – Why ISIS May Survive For A Long Time

This week ISIS struck again in Europe. The carnage in Brussels reminded us of the even more horrific attack on Paris on November 13, 2015. Eleven days after that, on November 24, Turkey shot down a Russian plane. Four days later we wrote our article comparing Turkey & NonPakistan. Specifically we argued then: 

• “The Taleban in Afghanistan have been nurtured & actively supported for decades by NonPakistan while they declare 100% verbal support and some degree of material support to the US war against the Taleban in Afghanistan”.
• “Replace Afghanistan by Syria, … NonPakistan by Turkey and you get today’s Syrian quagmire. Remember, the Taleban have survived and even thrived for the past 35 years. And NonPakistan supported & nurtured them for 35 years because that fit NPak’s strategic objectives.”
• “This is why we are resigned to ISIS remaining a viable entity for a long time despite the current wave of determined outrage against ISIS and verbal commitments to “crush” ISIS.” 

Every one knows about the role of NonPakistan in creating, nurturing and supporting the Taleban in Afghanistan. But little has been written by the New York Times, Washington Post or their colleagues about Turkey’s central role in creating, nurturing, & supporting ISIS. Turkey has been a greater or at least as more important an ally of America. So it has been convenient for the Obama Administration to remain mum about the deep connection between ISIS & Turkey. But slowly the curtain is being lifted. Listen to what David Phillips of Columbia University and Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-Mass) said on Thursday about Turkey & ISIS:

• David Phillips ( at min 01:42) – ” … Turkey is an accomplice in the transport & sale of oil; ISIS is generating $500 million a year from oil sales; they do that in plain sight; they move the oil across the border from Syria to Turkey; it goes into the Jehan pipeline; it is then boarded onto Turkish tankers including some which may be owned by Bilal Erduan, son of the president; … Turkey was all invested in it, ISIS oil …”     
• David Phillips (at min 2:43) – “Turkey has improved its performance in the past few months; but we have to recall that beginning in 2012, Turkey ran the Jihadi highway across the border from Turkey to Raqqa; there was systematic transport of fighters, weapons, equipment; wounded warriors ended up in Turkish hospitals; Erduan has not proved himself to be a reliable ally … their performance from the beginning has been seriously lacking” 
• Congressman Lynch (at min 3:30) – “that’s exactly right; they were very very slow to the fight and they were complicit in many regards; I have been into Turkey probably half a dozen times in last 2 years, dealing with the Interior Minister, dealing with their security officers;… they were complicit in helping ISIS in many respects … “

Almost exact is the parallel between how the Afghani Taleban have been supported by NonPakistan and how ISIS has been supported by Turkey. Have we solved the problem of NonPakistan’s lifeline for the Taleban? That is why the war in Afghanistan has continued for 15 years without any end in sight. So why does anyone think we can solve the problem of Turkey’s lifeline for ISIS? And how can ISIS ever be “defeated” as long as Turkey keeps supporting ISIS, either openly or surreptitiously?

There is a very simple and effective way of cutting the Turkish lifeline to ISIS. Allow the establishment of a Syrian Kurdish state, homeland or area of control between Turkey & Syria. No one has proved better at fighting ISIS than the Kurds. They will prove much better allies of America than any one else in Syria. And having a homeland of their own has been their dream for generations. This will be fast, inexpensive for America and very effective. Such a Kurdish homeland will also allow staging of US special forces closer to ISIS areas in Raqqa & Aleppo. 

This is very similar to the obvious & historically correct solution to the Af-Pak problem that we described on April 25, 2009 – establishment of a Pashtunistan between Panjabi heartland of NonPakistan and Afghanistan. The Obama Administration could never bring themselves to consider it because they knew NonPak would oppose it virulently and because they were wedded to the idea of NonPakistan being a critical ally of America. 

The Obama Administration would never consider allowing a Syrian Kurdish homeland between Turkey and Syria. They know Turkey would oppose it vehemently and physically. And the Obama Administration is even more wedded to the idea of Turkey being a geo-strategic ally of America. 

So the Jihadi highway between ISIS & Turkey will remain open just as the Talebani pipeline between NonPakistan & Afghanistan remains open. 

Long Live ISIS & Long Live Taleban! 

Editor’s Note: For new readers, the term NonPakistan or NPak denotes our abhorrence & rejection of the utterly heinous term Pak-i-stan, the land of the spiritually pure. It is even worse than the German Nazi term “Master Race”. Because a master race requires presence of servant races to serve the masters. But, by definition, to remain “pure” a “pure religious” regime must cleanse out all “impure” religions from their soil. That is why the Islamabad regime has cleansed out millions of Buddhists, Hindus & even Muslims like Ahemadiyas from their “country”. If the US Administration cared even a fraction about Asians as they care about Europeans, they would banish the term “Pakistan” from their vocabulary. For our part, we have banished that term and use NonPakistan or NPak.

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