By now you’ve already heard me ranting here and on Facebook about the Paris situation. I applied my wry cynicism to the situation and try to show a side of the equation that I feel is overlooked. This doesn’t mean I don’t grieve for the people in Paris and in Russia and Beirut (the list does truly go on–ISIL has been active). Well, this morning as I eat my pancakes in the safe womb of the American Empire, I’m left to question what is really going on. Most Islamic terrorist actions seem to have a central target or idea that propels them forward. In some ways the actions seem militaristic. They generally feel like a way to lash out at an otherwise unbeatable enemy. ISIL attacks do not feel this way. In truth these attacks on, well, everybody, seem like a way to clearly define the lines between those of a specific islamic faith and everyone else. As I look closer into this situation I am starting to form a picture of an enemy collective that just wants to see the world burn.
I understood Al Qaeda. I’m not talking about the post 9/11 group that spun out of control to encompass virtually every terrorist organization operating in or near that region. I’m talking about the actual group that existed and was pretty well scouted by the CIA up to the day before 9/11. The government (used to?) host a site similar to the CIA’s world fact book that listed and described terrorist organizations. That Al Qaeda, the one born out of the blowback of our involvement in Russia’s war in Afghanistan, was driven to hurt America for 1) involving itself in the governing of Afghanistan in order to pave the way for American corporate interests and (2) as a proof that its leadership (read: Bin Laden) was not a puppet of the American regime that armed and trained its fighters. In other words, they had what they felt was legitimate beef. Furthermore, they chose a single target and executed a bold attack on that target and continued efforts to destabilize that target (America).
ISIL is going after everyone and while they are doing so they are fighting a war in parts of Syria and Iraq, attempting to create a country all of their own. In other words they are fighting a war on so many fronts that it is impossible to see any other outcome than an entire world ready to rise up and punch them in the mouth. In recent weeks the group has managed to piss off NATO, Russia, and China. That’s the three biggest military groupings in the world. That is also three groups who are traditionally at each others throats (from a distance, of course). If I didn’t know better I’d think ISIL was a subversive effort to ally the world’s largest military forces against a common enemy.
I’m sure that isn’t real… is it?