Has Trump revived Islamic State?

Beyond Today

BBC

News

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2019

⏱️ 23 minutes

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Summary

President Trump’s order to pull US troops out of northern Syria last week was a little like pushing over a domino: it meant that Turkey could start an offensive against the Syrian Kurds who live in that region and who they see as a terrorist threat; it meant that the Kurds, who have been a crucial ally of the West in the fight against the Islamic State terror group, had to refocus on defending their own people against the Turkish onslaught, and it has plunged an already volatile part of the world into further chaos. IS thrives on chaos. So, could the increasing unrest in the region allow the group to re-emerge? Quentin Sommerville, the BBC’s Middle East correspondent, joins us to discuss. Presenter: Tina Daheley Producer: Harriet Noble Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:06.6	Hello, I'm Tina Deheelie.
0:08.6	You're listening to Beyond Today from BBC Radio 4,
0:11.7	a space to ask one big question about one big story.
0:21.2	Today has President Trump revived Islamic State.
0:27.0	When you're the President of the United States, one decision can have huge
0:36.2	consequences. Donald Trump's order to pull US troops out of Northern Syria last
0:42.0	week was a bit like pushing over the first
0:45.0	Domino. It meant that Turkey could start an offensive against the Syrian Kurds who
0:49.6	live in that region and who they see as a terrorist threat. It meant that the Kurds, who've
0:56.0	been a crucial ally of the West in the fight against the Islamic State Terror Group,
1:00.0	had to refocus on defending their own people against the Turkish onslaught
1:05.0	and it's plunged an already volatile part of the world into further chaos.
1:11.0	We're going to look at how all this could help revive IS, but we're
1:16.2	going to start with the story of three British orphans, children of IS fighters
1:21.8	who left Britain to join the caliphate and were killed defending it.
1:27.0	Ten-year-old Amira and her younger siblings Heba and Hamza.
1:32.2	The BBC's Middle East correspondent, Quentin Somerville,
1:34.6	spent a lot of time in the dusty camps dotted across northern Syria that are
1:39.6	filled with refugees and families of IS fighters all displaced by the conflict in the region.
1:47.1	We've spoken to him before about Shimima Begum who he met in a similar Syrian refugee camp.
1:55.0	He's now back at home in Beirut. Hi there.
	...

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