Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander General and retired U.S. General Wesley Clark revealed in anย interview with CNN that the Islamic State (Daesh, ISIS) remains geostrategically imperative to Sunni nations, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as they clamor for strategic power over Shiโ€™a nations, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. He explained that โ€œneither Turkey nor Saudi Arabia want an Iran-Iraq-Syria-Lebanon โ€˜bridgeโ€™ that isolates Turkey, and cuts Saudi Arabia off.โ€

“Letโ€™s be very clear: ISIS is not just a terrorist organization; it is a Sunni terrorist organization. That means it blocks and targets Shiโ€™a. And that means itโ€™s serving the interests of Turkey and Saudi Arabia – even as it poses a threat to them.” – Retired Gen. Wesley Clark

When asked by the CNN host if Russian President Vladimir Putinโ€™s suggestion that Turkey was โ€œaiding ISISโ€ had any validity, he responded:

โ€œAll along thereโ€™s always been the idea that Turkey was supporting ISIS in some way. We know theyโ€™ve funneled people going through Turkey to ISIS. Someoneโ€™s buying that oil that ISIS is selling; itโ€™s going through somewhere – it looks to me like itโ€™s probably going through Turkey – but the Turks havenโ€™t acknowledged that.โ€

After explaining this virtual gateway for the Islamic Stateโ€™s oil, Clark was quick to emphasize that Putinโ€™s allegations about Turkeyโ€™s support for terrorist organization, ISIS, arenโ€™t without their own hypocrisy. Russia, of course, has beenupholding President Bashar al-Assadโ€™s administration in Syria against rebel groups backed by the U.S. โ€” despite continuing denials by U.S. officials that that particular theater is its primary interest in the region.

He said, โ€œPutin would like to dirty Turkey by saying itโ€™s supporting terrorists, but the truth is that heโ€™s supporting terrorists. I mean, the tactics used by the Assad regime have been terror tactics. Theyโ€™re dropping barrel bombs on innocent civilians.โ€

Clark concludes the interview with a statement that encapsulates growing sentiment of many Westerners whoโ€™ve grown war-weary with such geopolitical wrangling overseas:

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โ€œThereโ€™s no good guy in this – this is a power struggle for the future of the Middle East.โ€

This article appeared atย ZeroHedge.com:ย http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-03/general-wesley-clark-isis-serves-interests-us-allies-turkey-and-saudi-arabia