Terror Attack at Istanbul Airport Proves Turkey Is Losing The Battle Against ISIS

As PJ Media reported yesterday, Atatürk Airport in Istanbul was hit by several suicide bombers. Before they set off their bombs, they shot at innocent passengers with semi-automatic weapons. According to the latest reports, at least 36 and possibly as many as 50 people have died.

Although one news outlet reports that ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, that report has not yet been confirmed. Even if ISIS doesn't claim responsibility, however, everything about this attack has 'ISIS' written all over it. First, it was yet another attack on an airport. Second, the terrorist combined an attack with semi-automatic rifles with suicide bombs and, third, once again innocent civilians were their target. Although the PKK and PKK-affiliated TAK also regularly carry out attacks in Turkey, they tend to target governmental targets such as soldiers and police officers. ISIS, on the other hand, always tries to kill as many innocent and unarmed civilians as possible.

And that is pretty discomforting, especially for people like me: who live in Turkey. In the last couple of years, ISIS has used the border crisis with Syria to smuggle as many jihadists into Turkey as possible. Ever since, these Muslim extremists -- there may be thousands of them in Turkey -- have stood ready to carry out terror attacks. Some of them have, thankfully, been prevented, but the authorities can't possibly monitor every single ISIS-sympathizer in Turkey.

Turkey has been supporting ISIS from the beginning. Turkey is ISIS’s safe rear zone, its where they bring their wounded for treatment, its where they are supplied, its where they sell their oil (to Erdogan’s son, if I remember correctly).

Qatar also supports ISIS, and while the Saudis don’t want them in their territory, I believe they have supported them too. And while it has become politically embarrassing to support them now, Obama’s State Department did support them. They are now shifting their support to other “rebel” groups, the ones who self-identify as Al Qaeda.

Its a mess. It probably seemed like a good idea at first, but it has all become incoherent because Obama is involved and muslims are involved. If you were planning to take down Iran, it makes perfect sense to take down Assad closing Iran’s window to the Mediterranean. And it makes sense maybe to drive a physical wedge between Iran and Syria, which ISIS did when they took the Iraqi heartland.

Were it not for the whole head-chopping-on-camera thing, everyone involved could take credit for an ingenious policy that turns our enemies into a weapon against our worse enemies. But ISIS has gotta do what they gotta do, and can’t help putting it on you-tube for all the world to see. So they have become a PR nightmare for people who have to care about such things... which the Turks don’t. But State does.

None of this makes any sense, though, if you aren’t going to take down Iran. None of this makes any sense if you are simultaneously assuring and protecting and paying for Iran’s nuclear program. Why take down Assad if you are going to strengthen Iran?

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