Who funded and brought up ISIS? One side, the mainstream American side, points the finger of blame at private donors and al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria,
the al-Nusrah Front.
This finger pointing is being done by former U.S. Navy Admiral and NATO Supreme Commander, James Stavridis, amongst other Washington officials. He
stated to NBC News that, “these rich Arabs are like what ‘angel investors’ are to tech start-ups, except they are interested in starting up
groups who want to stir up hatred.” He goes on by saying, “groups like al-Nusrah and ISIS are better investments for them. The individuals act as
high rollers early, providing seed money. Once the groups are on their feet, they are perfectly capable of raising funds through other means, like
kidnapping, oil smuggling, selling women into slavery, etc.” [1]
The continuation of blame follows down the path to the individuals who are reported to solicit funds for ‘humanitarian causes,’ only to hand off
the proceeds to ISIS and like-minded affiliates. US intelligence prefers to call them ‘rich patrons,’ noting their contribution to the development
of the Assad regime in Syria.
An interesting turn of events occurred during a gathering for the Council of Foreign Relations, which Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammed Javad Zarif,
attended. He accused the assembled Paris conference on fighting ISIS of being a “coalition of repenters,” insinuating that it was they who have
“created a monster.” The Council of Foreign Relations heard Zarif’s condemnation of those who sought pretense. “It [ISIS] has been supported,
it has been provided for in terms of arms, money, finances by a good number of U.S. allies in the region.” [2]
It isn’t the first time that the western front has been accused of setting up ISIS and other affiliates financially, and militarily. In 2014,
Zbigniew Brzezinski, former counselor and advisor to the likes of Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s, and President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s and
early 1980s, spoke with NBC on the matter of national security and ISIS.
When prompted with the matter of combating ISIS without strengthening the Assad regime or Iran, he responded that the US backed the weakest link in
Syria. “I think it was a mistake, in fact, to give such a free hand to the Saudis and others in organizing some sort of an internal self-promoted
conflict within Syria,” Brzezinski said. “And we have to be very careful how we become engaged.” [3]
This comment may be in hindsight for the support of the mujahideen during the Cold War between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. The Afghan War was
eventually won over by the mujahideen rebels with the military aid of the US, however, it now remains controversial. Since 1992, various rebel
factions have appeared, decreeing an Islamic republic.
1992 is also the same year in which the CIA permitted Pakistani ISI allies (Inter-Services Intelligence) to recruit Muslim extremists, most passing
under mujahideen-CIA assisted training. It was from here that some 35,000 Muslim radicals trained and fought together, giving birth to an Islamic
radicalism, along with one of its first official recruits, a civil engineer and businessman, Osama bin Laden. [4]
The history is there. Lead advisors, though cautious in their words, err a noise of regret on their involvement. Others take the forum and announce
their blame at Council, for the world to hear. University professors write essays and some mainstream media journalists, true to their writing cause,
raise queries, but who will put the genie back in its proverbial bottle? Or is the bottle already too broken?
SOURCES:
[1] Windrem, R. (2014, September 21). Who’s Funding ISIS? Wealthy Gulf ‘ Angel Investors,’ Officials Say. [NBC News]. Retrieved from
www.nbcnews.com...
[2] Ibid., Windrem, R.
[3] Landy, B. (2014, October 9). Zbigniew Brzezinski on ISIS, Ukraine, and the future of American power. [MSNBC]. Retrieved from
www.msnbc.com...
[4] Gasper, P., Prof. (2001, Nov-Dec). Afghanistan, the CIA, bin Laden, and the Taliban. [Internationalist Socialist Review]. Retrieved from
www.thirdworldtraveler.com...