There are several problems with this line of argument. But let’s get the main one out of the way first: In the fight against ISIL, your enemy’s enemy is not automatically your friend.
Indeed, this conflict has
made a mockery of the usual axioms about allies and foes. American
airstrikes against the terrorists in Kobane help the enemy (the Kurdish PKK)
of a friend (Turkey). But strikes against the Al-Nusra Front help the
friend (Hizballah) of an enemy (Syrian dictator Bashar Assad).
From the American perspective, Iran is not only the enemy of an enemy (ISIS),
but also the friend of a friend (Iraq), and the friend of an enemy
(Assad, Hizballah), and the enemy of a friend (Saudi Arabia).
It’s complicated for
others, too. Look at it from Turkey’s point of view: Assad is an enemy,
as well as the friend of a friend (Iran); the US is an ally, but also the friend of a rival (Saudi Arabia). Or survey the battlefield as seen by Iran: the US is both an enemy and the friend of a friend (Turkey); Saudi Arabia is the friend of an enemy (the US) and the rival of a friend (Iraq’s Shia-led government).
For Saudi Arabia, the government in Baghdad is both the friend of an enemy (Iran) and the friend of a friend (the US).
I know: it makes my head spin, too.
end partial quote from:
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