It was a telling contrast: a high-profile shout-out Tuesday from
President Obama to Arab allies who joined in U.S.-led airstrikes against
Sunni Muslim militants in Syria – coupled with cautious, distancing and
sometimes belated statements from the Arab states involved.
The sharply different public postures suggested that the Obama administration still faces an uphill fight to galvanize regional allies for a long offensive against Islamic State, whose fighters have seized an arc of territory in Syria and Iraq, enforcing its rule with crucifixions and beheadings and forcing tens of thousand of civilians to flee.
“This is not America’s fight alone,” Obama declared Tuesday, listing a roll call of Arab states that had taken part in the initial airstrikes: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar. The United States, the president asserted, was “proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder” with these allies.
But for a variety of reasons, analysts say, most Arab states are reluctant to take on overtly visible roles in a U.S.-led military coalition. Some fear direct retaliation by Islamic State. Others worry about inflaming their own homegrown extremists, or do not want to act in ways that will advance the agenda of their regional rivals, particularly as concerns the combustible divide between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
And if the American-led campaign escalates to a ground battle, Arab states are almost certain to step back, said Egyptian analyst Gamal Sultan.
Read more: U.S. won Arab support for airstrikes, but challenges remain - LA Times
The sharply different public postures suggested that the Obama administration still faces an uphill fight to galvanize regional allies for a long offensive against Islamic State, whose fighters have seized an arc of territory in Syria and Iraq, enforcing its rule with crucifixions and beheadings and forcing tens of thousand of civilians to flee.
“This is not America’s fight alone,” Obama declared Tuesday, listing a roll call of Arab states that had taken part in the initial airstrikes: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar. The United States, the president asserted, was “proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder” with these allies.
But for a variety of reasons, analysts say, most Arab states are reluctant to take on overtly visible roles in a U.S.-led military coalition. Some fear direct retaliation by Islamic State. Others worry about inflaming their own homegrown extremists, or do not want to act in ways that will advance the agenda of their regional rivals, particularly as concerns the combustible divide between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
And if the American-led campaign escalates to a ground battle, Arab states are almost certain to step back, said Egyptian analyst Gamal Sultan.
Read more: U.S. won Arab support for airstrikes, but challenges remain - LA Times
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