Jul 2, 2014

The events unfolding in Iraq are a grave development, accelerating the expansion of radical Islam in the Middle East. To thwart this advance, three threats in particular need to be neutralized: a growing political and terrorist subversion of Iran that has been abetted by the acquiescence of Western democracies; a spillover of jihadist activity from Syria and Iraq into Jordan; and the failure of Egypt's recently elected Abdel Fattah al-Sisi government to rebuild the country's economy.

The following steps are required to deal with these dangers:

Confronting Iran with a strong regional coalition possessing superb military and intelligence capacities.

Helping Jordan defend itself and protect its borders and its stability.

Strengthening the non-jihadist members of the Syrian opposition.

Assisting the new Egyptian government through foreign investments in energy, industry and national economic infrastructure.

Unfortunately, America’s allies in the region can't entirely rely on it to take all these steps. For example, the US administration preaches democracy to Gen. Sisi, but has denied him the vital tools (Apache helicopters, for example) to fight Islamist guerrillas in the Sinai Peninsula. Those who listened to President Barack Obama's May 28 foreign policy speech at West Point understood that he prefers a deal, rather than a confrontation, with the ayatollahs. The United States’ and Iran’s "common enemy" in Iraq — the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), now known as the Islamic State — may serve as a pretext for justifying such a deal.

Washington's words, as faithful and just as they almost always are, are no longer backed by the readiness to use force. The United States will keep selling sophisticated weapons to its friends in the Persian Gulf and will support Israel through its vital defense projects, but nothing significant beyond that. Substantial support to the non-jihadist opposition in Syria would be a good surprise.

Countries of the Middle East, anxious to protect themselves against Sunni or Shiite extremist Islam, have to do that through self-reliance, without leaning on powers outside the region.