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France is a Common Target for ISIS and Assad

Al-Hayat, London, Originally Posted in Arabic on November 15

 

The Islamic State declared an open war against the West. After sustaining weeks of attacks from the air – including by French forces – the organization decided to escalate its attacks abroad. It is incorrect to look at the Paris events without putting them in the right context: namely, the downing of the Russian airliner and the double suicide bombing in southern Beirut just days earlier.

These attacks show that the organization is desperate. It recently lost control over Sinjar, a crucial region on the crossroad between Iraq and Syria, as well as over the city of Mosul. This comes days after the assassination of Jihadi John in a precise drone strike in the city of Raqqa – considered by many the capital of the Islamic State.

Being bombed by fighter jets, having constant drone surveillance above them, and losing control over strategic territories, have all brought ISIS to escalate its attacks.

At the same time, there is another beneficiary of these events whom we have disregarded: Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian president was the only leader in the world who did not denounce the attacks, but rather goaded and blamed the French for aiding the Syrian rebels. Interestingly enough, the timing of the attack work perfectly well for Assad: just one day before the beginning of the Vienna talks, convened to discuss a political solution in Syria.

ISIS launched these attacks to push the West away. It seems like Assad might just utilize these events to do exactly the opposite: establish his role as a legitimate part of the solution in his country.  – Elias Harfoush