Allying with ‘Political Islam’: Washington’s Tactical Alliances with Al Qaeda and ISIS in Syria

‘The New York Times reported that the United States has refrained from systematically attacking Al Qaeda’s franchise in Syria because US-backed fighters coordinate and are enmeshed with the outfit. The newspaper also reported that the Pentagon had refrained in 2015 from attacking ISIS militants in and around the Syrian city of Palmyra in order to further the US foreign policy goal of regime change in Damascus.
The United States has a long history of forming tactical alliances with political Islam to counter secular Arab nationalists, whom it views as inimical to its interests of dominating the Arab world, with its vast petroleum resources.
Syria, whose constitution describes the country as “the beating heart of Arabism” and “bedrock of resistance against colonial hegemony on the Arab world,” is the last of the secular Arab nationalist states opposing US domination and control of the region.’
Read more: Allying with ‘Political Islam’: Washington’s Tactical Alliances with Al Qaeda and ISIS in Syria