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.

FB: Stanley Seshie

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