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By David Boyajian<\/b><\/p>\n
August 26, 2021\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
As America\u2019s presence in Afghanistan draws to a close and the 20<\/span>th<\/span> anniversary of 9\/11 approaches, it\u2019s worthwhile to consider the countries that sponsor global terrorism and Washington\u2019s response to them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n One country stands out: Turkey. <\/span><\/p>\n NATO is purportedly a bulwark against attacks on Western civilization.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet NATO member Turkey has long supported ISIS and numerous other anti-Western terrorist organizations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Turkey has been arming terrorists and sending them into countries such as Syria, Libya, and Azerbaijan.<\/span><\/p>\n For example, in 2020 Turkey transported terrorist mercenaries into Azerbaijan, which then deployed them against Armenian-populated Artsakh\/Nagorno-Karabagh.\u00a0 These <\/span>included<\/span><\/a> former ISIS commander\u00a0Sayf Balud and war criminals such Fehim Isa of the Sultan Murad Brigade.<\/span><\/p>\n One hundred bipartisan members of Congress<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(2021) and the\u00a0<\/span>European Union Parliament<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(2020) have condemned Turkey and Azerbaijan for that.<\/span><\/p>\n In contrast, the State Department has said little and done nothing about those two countries\u2019 blatant use of terrorist thugs.\u00a0 Does Washington still have a Global War on Terrorism?<\/span><\/p>\n The U.S. is concerned that ISIS-K (an ISIS affiliate) and Al-Qaeda will remain in Afghanistan after America departs and become a threat to America.<\/span><\/p>\n Hence, Turkey\u2019s support for ISIS and other terrorists is relevant to the Afghan debacle.<\/span><\/p>\n Moreover, Turkish President Erdogan just <\/span>admitted<\/span><\/a> that he\u2019s comfortable talking to the Taliban \u201csince Turkey has nothing against the Taliban\u2019s beliefs.\u201d\u00a0 The State Department has apparently not reacted to this stunning confession.\u00a0 That\u2019s disturbing.<\/span><\/p>\n Turkey\u2019s terrorist record goes back years.<\/span><\/p>\n Says Turkey\u2019s counterterrorism chief from 2010-13, <\/span>Ahmet S. Yayla,<\/span><\/a> \u201cTurkey was a central hub for \u2026 over 50,000 ISIS foreign fighters, and the\u00a0main source of ISIS logistical materials [including] IEDs, making Turkey and ISIS practically allies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n This makes NATO itself look like an ISIS supporter.<\/span><\/p>\n Two studies by veteran State Department adviser Dr. David L. Phillips, who now heads Columbia University\u2019s Peace-building and Human Rights Program, exposed Turkey\u2019s alliance with ISIS:\u00a0<\/span>ISIS-Turkey Links<\/b><\/a>\u00a0(2014) and\u00a0<\/span>Turkey-ISIS Oil Trade<\/b><\/a>\u00a0(2015\/2016).<\/span><\/p>\n In 2014, Vice President Joe Biden\u00a0<\/span>told<\/b><\/a>\u00a0a Harvard audience that Turkey and others had been giving \u201chundreds of millions of dollars [and] tons of weapons\u201d to Al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n President Obama quickly papered over Turkey\u2019s guilt by forcing Biden to apologize to Erdogan.\u00a0 Again, what happened to the Global War on Terrorism?<\/span><\/p>\n This year, in his expos\u00e9 <\/span>Turkey: A state sponsor of terrorism?<\/b><\/a>, David Phillips noted that if a \u201cnon-NATO country behaved like Turkey, it would warrant designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In January and July, the U.S. Treasury Department fingered Turkey as a\u00a0<\/span>financial base for ISIS<\/b><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Al-Qaeda<\/b><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n America hasn\u2019t penalized Turkey itself, however, but rather merely some Turkish individuals and companies.\u00a0 No wonder Washington\u2019s efforts \u2014<\/span>assuming they\u2019re sincere, which is questionable<\/span><\/i> \u2014 have been largely ineffective.<\/span><\/p>\n Turkey\u2019s longtime backing of terrorist groups raises fundamental questions about U.S. policy.<\/span><\/p>\n Have the State Department and covert American actors actually been <\/span>supporting<\/span><\/i> terrorist organizations in certain cases?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n More specifically, while Washington publicly opposes terrorism, do the State Department and CIA silently support terrorist violence that is somehow deemed in America\u2019s interests or that targets countries and regimes considered unfriendly to the U.S.?<\/span><\/p>\n We must sadly conclude that the Global War on Terrorism has become a criminal fraud perpetrated on the American people, both civilians <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> our men and women in uniform, by persons whose names we can only guess.<\/span><\/p>\n As the U.S. departs Afghanistan, one wonders whether the blood and treasure spent there were in vain or part of something larger and more sinister.<\/span><\/p>\n