Press TV has interviewed Webster Griffin Tarpley, an author and historian, and Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a senior adviser to the Center for Defense Information, both in Washington, to discuss the recent developments concerning the Syrian conflict.
Tarpley says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan could have easily dealt ISIL a heavy blow in Syria by closing borders, but instead he opted for “total complicity” with the Takfiri group.
Turky’s president is now the “spiritus rector” and the main leader of ISIL, with his daughter running an ISIL hospital and his son helping the group smuggle captured Iraqi oil, Tarpley maintains.
He says Putin’s ultimatum to Turkey over ISIL, although unconfirmed, has actually taken place and Russia had good reasons to warn the NATO member.
Tarpley says that Turkey essentially threatened Russia with terrorism when Erdogan decided to meet Crimean Tatar leaders. Ankara also seems to be pushing the ISIL threat toward Russian borders, he argues, as its bombing patterns against anti-ISIL Kurdish groups suggests.
He dismisses the existence of moderate rebels in Syria as a “legend,” and a “myth” that circulates in Washington.
Korb, for his part, says that Washington’s extended air support for the militants it has trained in Syria is a sensible policy because it guarantees their security, which in turn helps recruit more “moderate” militants to fight ISIL. He says that regardless of its size, the group sends a message to ISIL so that they know there will also be ground forces to fight them.
