News / Foreign Policy

US lawmakers doubt Saudi commitment to fight Daesh

Sunday, 14 February 2016 12:01 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 14 February 2016 7:24 PM ]

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker

Some members of the US Congress have expressed skepticism over Saudi Arabia’s commitment to escalate its air campaign and send ground troops to Syria to fight the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

The lawmakers made the remarks this week regarding Saudi Arabia’s readiness to expand its air campaign against the Daesh terrorists and to send special forces to Syria only when the US-led coalition battling the terror group initiates the ground operations.

"I hear a lot of talk," US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker was quoted as saying on Friday when asked about Riyadh’s promise to commit troops in Syria.

Another US Congress member questioned the Saudis’ reasoning regarding their demand for Washington to initiate ground forces first, considering that Saudi Arabia is closer to Syria.

"I don’t know why the United States has to make the first move on the chessboard," Senator Tim Kaine said. "Whose region is this? And who has the principal responsibility with it?"

Kaine noted the United States wants partner with nations in the region tackling their own terrorist threat.

"But the notion they will be producing only if we play the leadership role — it kind of makes me question, how did that get to be?" Kaine added.

Another senator, Ben Cardin, said the US will judge Riyadh’s commitment "by what they deliver."

A Saudi soldier is stationed at a look-out point at al-Dokhan mountain on the Saudi-Yemeni border, in southwestern Saudi Arabia, on April 13, 2015. (AFP photo)

Saudi Arabia is a member of the US-led coalition that has been purportedly conducting air raids against Daesh terrorists inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate since September 2014.

The air assaults in Syria are an extension of the US-led aerial campaign against purported Daesh positions in Iraq, which started in August 2014.

The US-led strikes have on many occasions targeted infrastructures and left many civilians dead.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said during an interview in March 2015 that the US-led military campaign does not aim to “do away” with the terror group.

Washington and its regional allies, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have been backing militants fighting against the Syrian government and people. Since the Syria conflict started in 2011, they have been providing military and financial aid to the militants who are accused of widespread war crimes and crimes against civilians.

Daesh Takfirism is largely influenced by Wahhabism, the radical ideology dominating Saudi Arabia and freely preached by Saudi scholars.

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