The Arab lack of action over the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) is a mistake. Several Arab governments have expressed their deep horror at Isil’s barbaric acts making clear that they regard Isil as terrorists and outside the body politic of the Middle East. But this political stand can only be a start from which firm action should follow. There are two levels of problems for the Arab states to overcome: The first is political and the second is purely military.
On the military question, it may be hard for some of the Arab nations to muster the resources to go into action against Isil. But any Arab support to the fight against Isil would send a useful political message. The US and some other western states are sending warplanes into action against Isil, and they are supplying arms to various forces in Iraq including the Iraqi army and the Kurdish peshmerga. Some Arab support would be valuable. On the political side, it may be hard for some Arab states to work with the chaotic Iraqi government, but some of their disquiet will have been relieved by the departure of former prime minister Nouri Al Maliki. The new government has yet to prove itself but prime minister-designate Haider Al Abadi has made a useful start by reaching out to a wider constituency than his unfortunate predecessor.
A useful meeting is being held in Jeddah between Egypt, the UAE, Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but they are due to focus on the rise of Isil in the context of the Syrian civil war, although it is almost certain that the meeting will cover a range of Arab issues. Such meetings can be the start of a wider Arab agreement to join forces against Isil and stop their advance. No one should suggest that any action would be easy nor that it will deliver quick success. But immediate action against Isil is important to help remove Isil from any control of territory or people even if action is later required to help restore the failing politics of both Iraq and Syria which have created the vacuum into which Isil have stepped into so quickly.
