© Faisal Al Nasser / Reuters
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced the creation of an 'Islamic military alliance' with a mission to fight terrorism. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the coalition of 34 Muslim states would fight the scourge in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Afghanistan.
The coalition members are to share intelligence, train, equip and possibly even provide forces to fight against militants such as Islamic State and al Qaeda, said Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.
"Nothing is off the table," he stated regarding the possibility of deploying boots on the ground.
Pakistan got to know of its participation via news
A day after Riyadh announced the formation of the coalition, some of its members said that have been caught off guard and never agreed to take part in the alliance.
© Aamir Qureshi / Reuters
Malaysia denies taking part
Malaysia, another Muslim country which was put by Riyadh in the list of the 34 participants, also denied taking part in the military alliance. Malaysian Defense Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein told journalists that Kuala Lumpur will not join Riyadh, however it will continue to be part of the international fight against terrorism, the Rakyat Post reported.
© Olivia Harris / Reuters
Indonesia, a country with the world's largest Muslim population, said that it was approached by Saudi Arabia concerning anti-terrorism cooperation, however it needs details before considering to join a 'military alliance.'
Armanatha Nasir, Foreign Ministry spokesman said it is "important for Indonesia to first have details before deciding to support" any military actions, he said.
However, Indonesian Chief Security Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said later, as quoted by Reuters: "We don't want to join a military alliance."
© AP Archive / YouTube
The US, which is leading its own bombing campaign in Syria targeting IS militants, has welcomed the initiative. However, Washington seemed rather puzzled in terms of how the coalition's operations would work.
"We look forward to learning more about what Saudi Arabia has in mind in terms of this coalition," US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday.
© Carlos Barria / Reuters
Russia said that it expects a more detailed account from Riyadh of its initiative. "We expect to receive more detailed information from the initiators of this process as well as we would want to know more about what was discussed in Paris yesterday," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying on Wednesday.
Foreign ministers from the US, France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar and Turkey met in Paris on Monday to discuss the Syrian crisis ahead of the talks in New York on Friday that would include Russia.
Russia has been conducting its own airstrikes targeting IS and other terrorist groups in Syria since September 30. The strikes were launched at the formal request of Damascus. The Russian-led operation also involves coordinating its efforts with regional governments, including those of Syria, Iran and Iraq, which is known as the RSII coalition.
© Sergey Karpukhin / Reuters
Ankara, the only NATO state in the alliance, has agreed to take part in the Saudi-led initiative.
"The best response to those striving to associate terrorism and Islam is for nations of Islam to present a unified voice against terrorism," said Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday.
© Umit Bektas / Reuters
Meanwhile, Turkish MP Eren Erdem has told RT that IS terrorists in Syria received all necessary materials to produce deadly sarin gas via Turkey.
Washington has been urging Ankara to secure its Syrian border, which has been partially in the control of IS on the Syrian side. However Turkey has expressed skepticism, saying that it would be extremely difficult.
Iran, Iraq, Syria not invited by Saudi to the block
Despite Riyadh's initiative to possibly involve the alliance's ground troops in the fight against IS, Iraq and Syria have not been invited to the bloc.
Iraq said it was confused by the role of the alliance in the fight against terrorism in the region.
"This makes it very confusing for us. Who will be the one leading the fight against terrorism in the region?" asked Nasser Nouri, spokesman for Iraq's defense ministry, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. "Will it be the larger international coalition, and if so, what will be the point of having this new alliance."
Now I know those Saudis are insane.
Certifiably.
We always knew they were psychopaths and criminals, but we didn't know they were criminally insane psychopaths.
And among all the 34 nations they declared as their allies, Turkey is the only one to accept the honor.
Naturally.
Turkey.
An aptly named country.
Actually, what's going on here, in truth, is that the Saudis see the Gates of Hell opening before them in the near future, and are grasping at any straw in the wind to delay their inevitable demise.
And the gatekeeper is not Saint Peter, with Allah waiting to greet them, but Vladimir Putin, with Satan waiting inside, sharpening his knives and swords to skin them alive, for all eternity.
No forty-two virgins and green pastures flowing with milk and honey for these guys. No.
Soon, soon, come the fires and bitter cold of Hell.
It's such a pleasure to watch them shitting their pants with terror - the same terror they have inflicted on countless other human beings in their wasted, meaningless lives.
Cannot come soon enough.