They That Sow the Wind Shall Reap the Whirlwind

Memo to Recep Erdogan and the House of Saud - it's beginning to look like whirlwind time.

ISIS leader al Baghdadi, his forces being driven back from their stronghold in Mosul, urged ISIS soldiers fighting in Syria to invade and attack Turkey. “Turkey today entered your range of action and the aim of your jihad ... invade it and turn its safety into fear.”

Baghdadi, whose whereabouts are unclear, also called for “attack after attack” in Saudi Arabia targeting government leaders, members of the ruling al-Saud family and Saudi media for “siding with the infidel nations in the war on Islam and the Sunna [Sunni Muslims] in Iraq and Syria.”

It's hard to feel much sympathy for Erdogan or the Saudi royals. Both played footsie with ISIS at the outset only to get cold feet later on. They are, as many a judge would say, the authors of their own misfortune.