Just Some Ordinary Terrorists: Military Action Strips Daesh of Mystique

Turkey will not withdraw from Iraq without a fight, and Daesh will be finished by the end of 2016, Dr. Kamel Wazne from the Center of American Strategic Studies told Sputnik.

Turkey's incursion into Iraq was a long time in the planning, and a failure to withdraw on demand of the Iraqi government could lead to an escalation of the situation, Dr. Kamel Wazne, founder of the Center of American Strategic Studies, told Radio Sputnik.

​"They have gambled very heavily with a lot of securities in the region, and even the Arab leaders have demanded that Turkey should withdraw from Iraq immediately. We have to see how long it will take for Turkey to understand that the game they are playing is very dangerous in terms of the stability and security of the region."

Wazne said he believes that Turkey will not withdraw from Iraq without some kind of conflict, despite the consequences for an already unstable security situation.

"In the end, Turkey probably will not withdraw peacefully, I think there will be a showdown with some Iraqi faction and this will continue to escalate the tension in the region."

"In my understanding there will be enough pressure on Turkey, but this will take some time."

"They want to continue their involvement in Iraq for their own security reasons, but eventually their action and incursion will not stand with the Iraqi people."

The cooperation of the Turkish authorities with Daesh's oil trade and weapons supply is common knowledge around the world, and cutting off the terrorists' funding is crucial to containing them, said Wazne.

"The fight with Daesh has one face and we all have to face it."

"These terrorist organizations cannot have that kind of ammunition and weapons that last for five years. Obviously there are countries which are providing training and ammunition and support. We all know where these weapons are coming from."

Though the international community must make a united stand against terrorism, Wazne said he fears that many countries will continue to only pay lip service to the problem until it spreads to other countries in the region.

"They haven't been really honest about doing it [fighting terrorism], but I think in the end, people on the ground, either in Syria or Iraq and in the region who are actually being affected by these terrorist organizations are fighting and doing what needs to be done."

"This is a clear message for 2016, the upcoming year, that we cannot tolerate extremism, we cannot tolerate this radical point of view, we cannot tolerate Daesh and all those countries that support Daesh, this is the time to take appropriate action."

Rather than being defeated by western military intervention, Wazne said that people in the Middle East will ensure that Daesh is eventually defeated.

"I have a good feeling that the military end will expose some of the mystery that is taking place on the ground."

"We cannot count on the West, but eventually people in the region want to see a finality to this terrorist organization and I think this will come by the end of 2016."