WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Russia is the only major power able to destroy ISIL terrorist group because it can ignore Western accusations and media backlash while doing so, former White House National Security Council (NSC) advisor Gwenyth Todd told Sputnik.
“The world needs a truly powerful country, ready to do whatever is necessary to quash well-armed and financed terrorists, in the face of accusations of gross human rights abuses, to stop the Turks and Arab Gulf states from continuing to fuel the Islamic State terrorist machine,” Todd told Sputnik on Wednesday.
Todd explained that the Unites States has great difficulty exacting revenge on terrorists because “a large segment of US citizens feels a deep obligation to avoid any collateral damage or even brutal treatment of the guilty.”
“Neither of these approaches is viable when dealing with the rise of Islamic terrorist activity. When the West does retaliate, the terrorists know they can protect themselves by surrounding themselves with civilians,” Todd noted.
Now, “foolish terrorists” have made the assumption that Russia has adopted the Western fear of appearing too harsh: those who bombed the Metrojet flight and publicly threaten Russia today are testing this theory, she said.
“The US will be incredibly relieved if the Russians can ignore public handwringing and attack and destroy the headquarters of Islamic terrorists,” Todd asserted.
The former NSC official added that Western liberals will be more forgiving of Russian military operations in the face of Russia's announcement that ISIL was behind the Metrojet bombing.
“That window will only be open for a short time, however, and Russia therefore needs to move quickly and with great force against the Islamic State,” Todd pointed out.
Russia knows it will face criticism after the fact, even as the West winks and nods at Russian operations over the coming weeks, she said.
“The West quietly recognizes the role of Turkey, one of NATO's key members, in supporting Islamic State terrorism and is unlikely to defend Turkey if it chooses to confront Russia in Syria. The Gulf Arabs are certainly not going to risk armed confrontation with Russia,” Todd insisted.
If Russia is willing to "take one for the team," and carry out the necessarily brutal operations to cut off the head of ISIL, the West will be tremendously grateful, even if Western governments refuse to admit it publicly, she concluded.
