ISIS and Terrorism: The Political Fire with the Religious Smoke

By Stanley Seshie

In the name of democracy and inalienable human values, the Western
powers continue their suppressive and oppressive foreign policies
necessitating reactions collectively called terrorism from the Arab
world. Whilst at the same time their controlled mainstream media keep
tagging the victims of these policies as being generally intolerant
amd terrorists from the despicable actions of the exceedingly
disgruntled few. The mainstream media is perpetually misleading
society into believing that terrorism is religious radicalization and
extremism because of the historicity of religion. Admittedly,
terrorism is underlined by myraid of causes.Nevertheless, it will be
naive to believe that it is an expression of religious belief or as
extremist interpretation of the holy book. Let us take an amateur ride
into the past in order to throw some light onto the turbulent world
that we now found ourselves in and those who actually brought us this
far.

G. W. BUSH AND THE WAR ON TERRORISM

The current increasing organized evil saturating our generation is
certainly traceable to the responses to the event of September 11,
2001 in US. The world supported G. W. Bush's war in Afghanistan to
destroy and oust Al Qaeda led Taliban controlled government and the
latter was defeated (or is it scattered). Two years on, in 2003,
G.W.Bush pushed for another war in Iraq under the pretense of Saddam
Hussein possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction amidst other
propagandist allegations in what became known as the war on
terrorism.Bush claimed that this war would make the world safer.

However, it is important to know that as complicated as interests are
in world politics, particularly in the Mideast, US's foreign policy in
that region is essentially pinned on the need to secure and protect
Israel. Securing and protecting Israel means weakening all governments
seen as perceived or real threats to Israel through any means
necessary. Iraq, Iran and Syria were the immediate strategic targeted
regimes. The reason Iraq will be attacked under the pretence of
sponsoring terrorism (specifically Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda) whereas
Saudi Arabia and Qatar known for that internationally, for instance
will enjoy not only friendships from US but arms sale as well. In
addition, for their own reasons, Saudi Arabia and Qatar wanted Assad
removed in Syria. Israel wanted same.

Therefore the war on terrorism as declared by G. W. Bush became a war
to weakening and eventually changing governments in that region. The
WMDs propaganda worked out in the Iraq. The nuclear programme pursued
by Iran was to be capitalized upon through torrents of disinformation
and misinformation flooding media, neatly cloaked as "axis of evil"
that ought to be defeated else it acquires nuclear weapon. Just that
the theatricals failed. Therefore, the confrontational language
towards Iran changed to diplomatic tones.

Also with a regime change in Iran that eventually gave up the nuclear
enrichment programme for the lifiting of imposed economic sanctions,
Syria is the only target left in the triangular "axis of evil" nations
earmarked for destructions under the guise of war on terrorism
propaganda. Due to the debacle of the Iraqi war, fomenting internal
struggles to toppling Assad is the best option for US government. This
singular interest of having regime change in Syria, seen as too
strategic in the bigger picture of securing and protecting Israel in
the region, the emergence of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS,
was welcoming. Given that ISIS itself is fighting the regime in order
to expand its control over some territories. US saw this as a means to
achieving its ambition in Syria as it is already arming other
opposition militias in the fight against the Assad regime. Deadly ISIS
is free to operate.

BUT WHERE FROM ISIS

With the terrorist cells defeated (or is it scattered) in Afghanistan
from 2001, and coupled with the destabilization of Iraq in 2003
onwards, all kinds of militia groups previously contained by Saddam
Hussein are now forced circumstantially to scramble for power and
control against an unstable Iraqi government. Meanwhile the US and its
allies sought to manage the situation via various prisons set across
the Gulf region. Guantanamo Bay and Camp Bucca are famous prisons used
by US government for torturing in the name gathering intelligence
against Al Qaeda and terrorism. Prisons whose members are mostly
innocent people, most often without trial or conviction of any crime.
Suspicion became the crime upon which most people will end up in such
prisons and be tortured for many years.

When such people come out, what do you expect? Today, it is known that
ex-convicts from these prisons, particularly Camp Bucca of Southern
Iraq made up 25% of ISIS leadership hierarchy. ISIS was potentially
formed right in these prisons of Western powers. The torturing and
maltreatment that they underwent is what actually hardened them. So
much so that when replicating the same on their innocent victims, it
matters little to them as it does to their former prison masters.

The members of ISIS were not fossilized into seeing nothing wrong with
the clearly inhuman executions that they mostly undertook by readings
of the holy book. Rather it is by the extreme torturing techniques
designed by US-Coalition psychologists and operationally deployed in
those prisons that ossified their emotions. Nevertheless, when ISIS
finally appeared on the world stage, the Western powers could have
confronted it militarily had it not been that the group is equally
fighting the Assad regime. Whilst at the same time seizing key Iraqi
towns in order to cease, control and smuggle most of the oil to gather
capital for arm purchasing. Let ISIS do the job for US in Syria. So is
the vague strategy. It is now spilling over and reaching the homes of
the West.

ISIS EVIL REACHES THE WEST

Strangely, ISIS military prowess is increasingly becoming
uncontrollable for the Syria Army. Anti-Assad stance by these Western
powers allowed it to fester and grow from strength to strength in that
region. The occasional maiming and beheadings of Western citizens is
insignificant to the hundreds of Muslims killed daily in the region
and the hope of Assad's exit approaching. Therefore, it matters little
and offering lip services to fighting ISIS became the chorus. Russia,
supportive of the Assad regime, saw the need to step in through UN to
change the playing field against ISIS. Uncomfortable Western powers
will not collaborate, not even in the air let alone in intelligence
sharing though they pretend to be fighting ISIS all this while. Of
course Russia remained resolute in its mission of defeating ISIS and
other groups called by US as "moderate terrorists" in Syria.

The event of 13th November in France is bound to change that stance of
some Western powers sitting on the fence unconcerned about the
destructive and evil deeds of ISIS in the world. France clearly and
actively joined the airstrikes as retaliations of the murdered
innocent Frenchs. Again, US is unwilling to cooperate effectively.
Remember the last of the triangular "axis of evil" vestige in the war
on terrorism is yet to go. Assad's regime must go. This matters to
US-Coalition than the innocent lives murdered daily by ISIS.

The 13th November Paris deadly attack was touted by many all over the
world as th French version of September 11 per its executions. The
disguising modus operandi of terrorism is instilling and ossifying
fear in the populace. We can deny it through all sorts of solidarity
concepts, yet the thought of where is next is enough to awaken seismic
wave of fears in us. Ours is a generation fraught with and immersed in
fear, real but unwarranted. Fear now grips everyone, every nation. We
are all now on the alert almost evwey day. Yet, the symptomatic
religious smokes are the targets for treatment whilst the causative
oppressive policies remain untouched.

CONCLUSION

Thanks to the deliberate disinformation and misinformation of the
Western powers through their controlled mainstream media houses laying
the causes of terrorism at the doorsteps of Islamic religion. The
world must look beyond that ineffective and specious tactics of the
West by calling every cruel event involving anyone from the Arab world
as acts of terrorism. Interestingly, whilst calling almost all such
events involving Arabs as terrorism and terrorists, they never
referred to any of the unjustifiable killings of Palestinians and the
destructions of Arab nations by Israelis and Western powers
respectively as acts of tereorism. What these Western powers had
forgotten is that misinformation and disinformation can never defeat
evil acts, more so when it emerged from your own actions and
inactions.

Evil knows not the creator. It revolves and rotates so much so that
the creator is bound to fall in its direction and suffer its
consequences. It is time the West reconsiders most of its foreign
policies, especially in the Mideast. Terrorism, whatever its causes
are, has more to do with political suppression and oppression than
religious extremism and radicalism due to extremist interpretation of
a holy book. All post 2001 wars on the Asia continent is strategically
meant to weaken government not aligned to the wills of the US in order
to serve the interest of Israel. With regard to the worsening security
situations of the world, the West resembles the problem than the
solution. Terrorism is a political fire with just a religious smoke.
Here ends the amateur journey into the complexity of the issues
surrounding how unsafe our world had become.

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