I think Turkey is behind ISIS. I think Obama doesn’t know what he is doing.
Turkey is clearly behind ISIS.
The following is just my opinion, and I toss it out there so that someone can tell me I’m wrong:
I have long assumed the Sauds and State were also involved. (I think Benghazi points to State involvement). Now they are saying Qatar but I’m not sure that eliminates the Sauds. If State and CIA are involved, almost certainly the Sauds are involved.
As for Obama himself, I of course believe him to be a figure-head, just the face for whoever is the ruling coalition behind him. But they are in bed with the Turks and Sauds, so maybe it amounts to the same thing. The Sauds are more sensitive to PR than would be the Turks, I think they understand American politics more than do the Turks.
This is all just my opinion, of course, and I read with interest the opinions of my friends here. I believe, for State and the Sauds, the purpose was to bring down Assad and drive a physical wedge between Iran and Syria, closing Iran’s window to the Mediterranean. In effect, this was the first shots of the war on Iran. It had the additional advantage of redirecting our jihadist enemies against our other enemies. The purported interview with the Saudi intel chief, referencing his conversations with the Russians, pointed to this I believe.
For the Turks, ISIS is the battering ram that prepares the ground for eventual Turkish control whether direct or indirect. So the motives for the various partners are in harmony but not identical.
I have heard it said that Turkey has a Kurdish problem with riots and, like Obama,they also intend to remove Assad from power in Syria. So, they (allegedly) will let ISIS destroy the Kurds at their border and then grow in power to destroy Assad.
I have no way of knowing if that is true.