Iraq and Syria: From bad to worse

The West’s Syria policy could be best summarized in Sarah Palin’s words: “Let God sort it out.” That the U.S. forwarded the issue to God has not only helped Bashar al-Assad, but also the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to enhance their sphere of influence. As a result, the West has found itself in a nightmare scenario it couldn’t have even imagined: Becoming engaged with Syria, which it has tried to ignore since the beginning of the war, and with Iraq, which it had just withdrawn from. What is even worse is it has found itself on the same front with Iran and al-Assad.

I wrote last week: “The West, Turkey, [Nouri] al-Maliki, the Kurds, Iran and al-Assad will have to cooperate against ISIL. Al-Assad is aware of the fact that ISIL can target him at any time and his closest regional allies Iran and al-Maliki will certainly ask him for help. This is why he will have to side with them against ISIL soon.”

Three developments this week have concretized these prospects. First, al-Assad bombed the ISIL’s locations in western Iraq and eastern Syria. Then, Iraqi press reported that al-Maliki asked al-Assad to help to patrol their borders. Al-Assad might also have taken into account the voices in Washington saying: “If we are going to bomb ISIL in Syria, then why not also bomb al-Assad?”

Another development has occurred in Iran. Tehran sent surveillance drones to Baghdad and provided the Iraqi army with military equipment and advice. Iran is expected to play the command role for the Iraqi army and the Shiite militia.

As a twist of fate, the U.S. and Iran have found themselves on the very same front, even though Washington denies any direct cooperation with Iran. This is because the U.S...