Are we failing to deal with Daesh effectively?

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Are we failing to deal with Daesh effectively?

Dubai - Speaking at the 8th edition of Arab Strategy Forum in Dubai, Prince Turki accused Western nations, including Russia, of treating the symptoms of terrorism by fighting Daesh, rather than tackling the causes.

By Staff Reporter

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Published: Wed 16 Dec 2015, 9:08 PM

There will be no end to terrorism in the Middle East if the root causes which are the regimes are not dealt with, according to Prince Turki Al Faisal, Chairman of the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies.
Speaking at the eighth edition of the Arab Strategy Forum in Dubai on Tuesday, Prince Turki accused Western nations, including Russia, of treating the symptoms of terrorism by fighting Daesh, rather than tackling the causes.
His comments came during a discussion on the State of the Arab World in 2016 that also included Ghassan Salame, political thinker and Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs and professor of International Relations at Sciences, Paris and Columbia University, New York.
Looking ahead to 2016 and beyond, the forum identified three key factors that could influence Arab world politics in the future: a) Failure to deal effectively with Daesh b) Regionalisation of conflicts and emergence of new conflicts and c) Managing rather than ending regional conflicts.
Salame accused the US and Russia of using Daesh as a justification for their interference in Syria and Iraq. He said: "Everyone is against Daesh on paper but Daesh is not the main enemy. Daesh is being used as an excuse to fight a proxy war in the region."
"Air strikes are useless. What is the goal? Are we killing Daesh through air strikes? I don't think so. ..It is our responsibility to counter terrorism. We let this evil out of the can and we are honest in saying we are ready to fight Daesh. We see the ideological fight against Daesh in many countries. But unless we fix Damascus and Baghdad, we will not defeat Daesh," Prince Turki said.
He added that Russia's intervention in Syria has complicated the situation, adding that any Arab engagement on the ground in Syria would have to be done in cooperation with others including the US, the UK, France, Turkey and Russia.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com
 


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