22 March 2016
Who helps ISIS?
Who helps ISIS?
By: Karsten Riise
When
Osama Bin Laden paid someone to blow down World Trade Center, it was
probably Osama’s absurd way to send an invitation to USA to join him in an
absurd party: Osama wanted to provoke USA to come to war against the Muslim
world in Afghanistan and the Middle East – and USA did exactly what
their enemy hoped for.
When a deranged person in Copenhagen in 2015 shot down a number of individuals, it probably fitted into the bigger picture in two ways: (1) The murderer in Copenhagen seemed to be an individual criminal subject to some social tensions between the different ethnic parts of Denmark’s society, (2) the secret police in Denmark had an interest in ignoring his criminal trajectory to get an insane lot of extra money and powers for themselves – and Denmark’s secret police got both.
In Paris and (probably) Brussels, a new kind of dynamic has entered into this deranged game of blood and power. ISIS sets a new kind of standard for atrocities. Where Bin Laden clearly wanted to do something spectacular, hitting big targets which in a war between states would be attacked, ISIS goes for the petty, mean and dirty. Like a new mafia-organization trying to overdo the old mafia, but without the means to do a really big thing, ISIS goes for many smaller, softer targets, hit in very cruel ways. In that way, hitting the Brussels airport is a bit different from ISIS’ usual pattern. I general, for ISIS, committing multiple petty atrocities, typically things which anyone can do with an automatic rifle, seem to be a kind of absurd ‘advertising’ campaign: To show their own sympathizers that ISIS has some kind of power which can attract supporters for ISIS. This way, ISIS acts like a kind of ‘company’ that advertises ‘opportunities’. There clearly is a number of people in Europe and the Muslim world, who want to do or support this kind of thing, and such people have to choose whom to ‘work’ for, or whose ‘services’ to pay for (donate). And ISIS wants to be the preferred ‘employer’ in this market for such individuals and for groups collecting and donating money for that.
But apart from the above - who supports ISIS in the big picture?
How can ISIS maintain their center of activity in the middle of a desert in Syria – surrounded by USAs ‘friends’ Turkey, Israel, the Kurds, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia and (ostensibly) the government in Baghdad?
There have to be some of USAs ’friends’ all around ISIS, who help ISIS with (1) export of oil – (2) white-washing money – (3) with procurement of weapons, and (4) getting these weapons into the middle of a desert in Syria. Some of ISIS’ weapons are man-born anti-air rockets (ref. Sputnik News 22 March 2016) which are normally very well controlled by USA. Other ISIS weapons are big things like tanks and cannons which USAs spy satellites must be able to locate 24/7 in a desert.
Philip Giraldi is a former CIA case officer. In the American Conservative, 22 December 2015, Philip Giraldi laid down his testimony that just about all USAs ’friends’ in the Syrian area are helping ISIS. On an earlier occasion, Philip Giraldi has also pointed out, that the use of poisonous gas in Syria could have been committed by rebels like ISIS and not by al-Assad’s Syrian army – in which case the question comes up, how ISIS may have gotten their hands on poisonous gas weapons and learned how to use them to blame the Syrian army.
According to Philip Giraldi, Turkey helps ISIS with the sale of oil. Israel provides military training to ISIS (they are Sunnis against Iran, Hizbollah and al-Assad). And Saudi Arabia and Qatar also help ISIS (which must be through Jordan). Philip Giraldi also questions whether the so called ’moderate’ insurgents against al-Assad are really moderate at all, or just another kind of extremists.
When a deranged person in Copenhagen in 2015 shot down a number of individuals, it probably fitted into the bigger picture in two ways: (1) The murderer in Copenhagen seemed to be an individual criminal subject to some social tensions between the different ethnic parts of Denmark’s society, (2) the secret police in Denmark had an interest in ignoring his criminal trajectory to get an insane lot of extra money and powers for themselves – and Denmark’s secret police got both.
In Paris and (probably) Brussels, a new kind of dynamic has entered into this deranged game of blood and power. ISIS sets a new kind of standard for atrocities. Where Bin Laden clearly wanted to do something spectacular, hitting big targets which in a war between states would be attacked, ISIS goes for the petty, mean and dirty. Like a new mafia-organization trying to overdo the old mafia, but without the means to do a really big thing, ISIS goes for many smaller, softer targets, hit in very cruel ways. In that way, hitting the Brussels airport is a bit different from ISIS’ usual pattern. I general, for ISIS, committing multiple petty atrocities, typically things which anyone can do with an automatic rifle, seem to be a kind of absurd ‘advertising’ campaign: To show their own sympathizers that ISIS has some kind of power which can attract supporters for ISIS. This way, ISIS acts like a kind of ‘company’ that advertises ‘opportunities’. There clearly is a number of people in Europe and the Muslim world, who want to do or support this kind of thing, and such people have to choose whom to ‘work’ for, or whose ‘services’ to pay for (donate). And ISIS wants to be the preferred ‘employer’ in this market for such individuals and for groups collecting and donating money for that.
But apart from the above - who supports ISIS in the big picture?
How can ISIS maintain their center of activity in the middle of a desert in Syria – surrounded by USAs ‘friends’ Turkey, Israel, the Kurds, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia and (ostensibly) the government in Baghdad?
There have to be some of USAs ’friends’ all around ISIS, who help ISIS with (1) export of oil – (2) white-washing money – (3) with procurement of weapons, and (4) getting these weapons into the middle of a desert in Syria. Some of ISIS’ weapons are man-born anti-air rockets (ref. Sputnik News 22 March 2016) which are normally very well controlled by USA. Other ISIS weapons are big things like tanks and cannons which USAs spy satellites must be able to locate 24/7 in a desert.
Philip Giraldi is a former CIA case officer. In the American Conservative, 22 December 2015, Philip Giraldi laid down his testimony that just about all USAs ’friends’ in the Syrian area are helping ISIS. On an earlier occasion, Philip Giraldi has also pointed out, that the use of poisonous gas in Syria could have been committed by rebels like ISIS and not by al-Assad’s Syrian army – in which case the question comes up, how ISIS may have gotten their hands on poisonous gas weapons and learned how to use them to blame the Syrian army.
According to Philip Giraldi, Turkey helps ISIS with the sale of oil. Israel provides military training to ISIS (they are Sunnis against Iran, Hizbollah and al-Assad). And Saudi Arabia and Qatar also help ISIS (which must be through Jordan). Philip Giraldi also questions whether the so called ’moderate’ insurgents against al-Assad are really moderate at all, or just another kind of extremists.
Some
time ago, the Iraqi army - trained by USA and equipped by USA with tanks etc -
was supposed to fight ISIS in battle. But instead of fighting, the Iraqi
soldiers immediately just ran away, leaving all their tanks and heavy
weapons intact behind for ISIS’ un-equipped foot-soldiers to take. In media,
that incidence was reported as just ‘incompetence’ of USA which have
trained the Iraqi army, given them the heavy weapons.
What a
luck for ISIS - that ISIS got all that heavy US military hardware in
Iraq - nearly as a gift.
but... what
if it WAS a gift... from USA ??
Deliberately instructing the Iraqi army to ‘flee’ from ISIS - leaving tanks and everything behind - could be an inconspicuous and deniable way for USA to arm ISIS heavily as a proxy-force against Syrian President Assad. And to use ISIS as a US tool of chaos.
The only forces that really seem to be effectively fighting ISIS (which draws many fighters from Russia) are Russia, Syria’s president al-Assad (Allawite), Iran (Shia) and the Libanese militia Hizbollah (Shia) and some Kurdish groups. Probably the Iran-friendly government in Baghdad would also like to fight ISIS, but the government in Baghdad does not necessarily control all parts of its own army, and Baghdad wants to look as a ‘friend’ to USA also.
If Giraldi is right that all USAs ’friends’ in the region (Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia etc.) support ISIS – I think (and here I disagree with Philip Giraldi) – it is impossible that USA does not know that its ‘friends’ support ISIS. I also think that it is impossible to believe, that USA could not restrain all its ‘friends’ from helping ISIS, if USA really wanted to combat ISIS.
So my big bad question is:
Does
USA also help ISIS?
Does USA play a double-game?
Does USA pretend to combat ISIS, while USA at the same time really is nursing ISIS as a monster to (1) terrorize USAs and Israel’s enemies (al-Assad and Iran), (2) use ISIS as a tool to pressure USAs own friends in Europe with Syrian refugees. Remember, that EU is not only a friend of USA, but also a powerful competitor. And last, but not least, (3) use ISIS and similar militant organizations in the Middle East and Africa to make the whole world beg and pray for USA to come and ‘protect’ them.
Karsten Riise
Partner & Editor
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
