The world has finally decided to confront the threat of the Islamic State. It was just about time. Waves of jet fighters coming from an international coalition have started to roam the skies above Syria and Iraq targeting locations and supply lines the IS is using to sustain its terror.
Since the IS started to attract media attention, it spared no effort to demonstrate how a human being can stoop so low.
The most outrageous and unfortunate thing is that they used the name of Islam to further their diabolical designs, reviving fears and dreadful memories their evil twin, Al-Qaeda, had planted in the hearts and minds of the whole world toward this peaceful religion. Sadly for Islam, it had to be used by groups of lunatics as a justification for their greedy pathetic existence. Needless to say, this great religion has nothing to do with these crazy people. The teachings of Islam are different from their skewed interpretation of this religion.
What makes this better-late-than-never strike against IS a bit different is that it brings many Arab nations together in the international coalition. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, and Qatar are all taking part in this military action. These countries’ decision to be part of the coalition should surprise no one. Had they not taken part in these efforts, it would have been surprising. After all the threat is wandering loose in their backyard.
As the strikes continue, Prince Khaled bin Salman, the son of Crown Prince Salman, and the United Arab Emirate’s female pilot Maj. Mariam Al-Mansouri participation in the attack had captured the news along with the air strike itself.
For the Kingdom, a number of analysts saw the Saudi conformation that the Prince Khaled bin Salman was one of the pilots who led the attack as a message that the Kingdom was serious about its participation in the coalition, as it was sending one of its royal family members into the war to prove it.
The Saudi participation in the strikes is a proof enough that the country is taking the threat of IS seriously. It is a message to the whole world that we are standing with you in the fight against terrorism.
The UAE major has brought the sensitive gender bias topic to the surface; apparently, the whole world forgot that she was a high rank pilot, that she did not only participate in the coalition but actually led her country’s squadron, and focused on the fact that she is a female who hit IS.
Most of the comments about her participation were revolving around mocking IS, with their extreme prejudice against women, and how they had been bombarded by a woman! This is disrespectful, to say the least. It proves that women participation in certain arenas is still way from being recognized and appreciated. Maj. Al-Mansouri was not a woman who hit IS, she was a qualified pilot who led her county’s squadron to do so, period.
At the end, and as the world finds itself obligated to stand up to face the terror of IS, we better not forget to address the circumstances that created this group; the chaos in Syria, the troubles in Iraq, and most of all, the dark ideologies that are capable of bringing such hatred and ugliness out of a human being. Any war on terror does not start nor end on the battlefield; it is a clash of ideas, starts and ends in the minds, and in the hearts.
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@smaldosari
Kingdom at the forefront in fight against IS
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