At least 40 countries — among them 10 Arab nations, including the UAE — have pledged to pool their resources in the fight to eliminate the scourge of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).
The world has been spurred into decisive action but, more importantly, it must operate within the framework of a solid, fool-proof strategy and time frame within which this threat must be eradicated permanently.
To achieve this objective, it is imperative that all stakeholders must work to each other’s strengths and iron out political differences that have brought them into dispute and disagreement in the past.
This time the enemy is a common one. The intensity of Isil’s violence, torture and executions shocked the global community, which dragged its feet by trying to negotiate past diplomatic and political fissures before arriving at what it believes is a comprehensive formula to combat this threat. To this extent, the coming together of key Arab nations into pledging substantial assistance, including appropriate military action, must be applauded.
Time, however, is of the essence — not just in ordering strategic military action, but also in orchestrating a well thought out humanitarian exercise to ensure that the collateral civilian damage and rehabilitation from the offensives that will follow is kept to a minimum. This must be a common aim for all stakeholders.
The defeat of Isil, however, should not just be exacted on the battlefield. Some of the group’s objectives, which are doused in extremism in all forms, have pockets of support. The strategy must be to thwart the long-term intentions of this organisation. This includes preventing it from gaining sanctuary, recruiting fighters and blocking its financial conduits.
Each nation must have a clearly defined role and be able to work towards the greater good. Wounds from age-old sectarian conflicts, thanks to misadventures in the past, have already been reopened. But this is a global threat and the response must be total.
