FBD
02-18-2015, 09:03 PM
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/islamic-state-mystery-anti-history-historic-phenomenon-1583179932#sthash.oW3mKfSB.dpu
The IS phenomenon is ahistorical and raises questions about its rapid geopolitical expansion despite lack of enthusiasm for its cause among ordinary people
From a people’s history (“history from below”, or “social history from below”) perspective, the so-called Islamic State (IS) phenomenon is at best, hard to explain, and at worst, beyond any comprehension.
True, at present, the Middle East region is the ideal incubator for violent militancy and political radicalisation. However, it is difficult to place IS even within that context without raising a host of questions that remain unanswered.
Starting with the first US-led western war in Iraq (1990-91), then a decade-long blockade, then the invasion of Iraq (2003), and the earlier invasion of Afghanistan (2001), the Middle East has undergone a rapid state of radicalisation that was more or less consistent with the violence visited upon the region by the US and its allies.
Coupled with the western-backing of Israel over the course of decades, and the constant support lent by the West to various corrupt and utterly violent Arab dictators, generation after generation of angry, radicalised, unemployed and humiliated youth was very much a reasonable and predictable outcome. Some of us warned tirelessly of the looming further radicalisation in the Middle East before and during the last Iraq war. We spoke of the destabilisation of the whole region, and that the conflict would eventually spill over into other countries, and would not be confined to Iraq or Afghanistan.
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snip for the tldr crowd, follow link to read the middle chunk
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Growing without popularity
Unlike al-Qaeda, IS’s religious agenda is hardly as pronounced. They carry out all sorts of bizarre actions in the name of Islam, but seem to lack deep Islamic theology or forward thinking vision. They are intensely militaristic and their body of Islamic literature is selective and lacking.
This is what was concluded by those who spent time with IS, expecting that the religious component would be the overriding element in their war. Hardly.
Yet, without major popular backing, and removed from much of the historical context in the Middle East, they continue to grow, and appear in the most politically convenient locations.
Thanks to IS’ despicable act of burning the pilot, Jordan is no longer polarised about their country’s war in Syria. Egypt is following the same path of intervention, thanks to the butchering of the Egyptian workers.
This is not to propose a specific conspiracy or to purport to understand the exact dynamics that propel IS, but to raise questions: prominent among them is that IS’s mysterious roots, its sudden advent, massive growth, and unexplainable geopolitical expansion is inconsistent with the lack of enthusiasm for them and their cause among ordinary people.
In fact, if judged exclusively through the prism of people’s history, the IS phenomenon is ahistorical.
By exploring that assumption, IS can be better understood, and perhaps confronted. The answer does not lie in understanding either Islam or Muslims, but by following the money trail, regional intrigues, and obvious and not so-obvious competing political agendas. Simply put, ordinary people are not the force behind IS.
Not only does IS seem to have no strategy of its own, but its “strategy” is inexplicably and enigmatically consistent with those who are seeking to maintain military intervention, regionally and internationally, as the only way to handle Middle East crises.
If we accept that hypothesis, we are likely to change the way we explain and think about IS altogether.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56azfP8yI0E
To quote John Cleese, "You're not fooling anyone, you know..."
More and more people are figuring out that ISIS is not Islamic, and when Muslims as a whole turn on these bastards, they're gonna catch some hell.
Which is the same we should be doing to our security services.
--------------------------
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHLqaSZPe98
The IS phenomenon is ahistorical and raises questions about its rapid geopolitical expansion despite lack of enthusiasm for its cause among ordinary people
From a people’s history (“history from below”, or “social history from below”) perspective, the so-called Islamic State (IS) phenomenon is at best, hard to explain, and at worst, beyond any comprehension.
True, at present, the Middle East region is the ideal incubator for violent militancy and political radicalisation. However, it is difficult to place IS even within that context without raising a host of questions that remain unanswered.
Starting with the first US-led western war in Iraq (1990-91), then a decade-long blockade, then the invasion of Iraq (2003), and the earlier invasion of Afghanistan (2001), the Middle East has undergone a rapid state of radicalisation that was more or less consistent with the violence visited upon the region by the US and its allies.
Coupled with the western-backing of Israel over the course of decades, and the constant support lent by the West to various corrupt and utterly violent Arab dictators, generation after generation of angry, radicalised, unemployed and humiliated youth was very much a reasonable and predictable outcome. Some of us warned tirelessly of the looming further radicalisation in the Middle East before and during the last Iraq war. We spoke of the destabilisation of the whole region, and that the conflict would eventually spill over into other countries, and would not be confined to Iraq or Afghanistan.
------------------------
snip for the tldr crowd, follow link to read the middle chunk
-----------------------------
Growing without popularity
Unlike al-Qaeda, IS’s religious agenda is hardly as pronounced. They carry out all sorts of bizarre actions in the name of Islam, but seem to lack deep Islamic theology or forward thinking vision. They are intensely militaristic and their body of Islamic literature is selective and lacking.
This is what was concluded by those who spent time with IS, expecting that the religious component would be the overriding element in their war. Hardly.
Yet, without major popular backing, and removed from much of the historical context in the Middle East, they continue to grow, and appear in the most politically convenient locations.
Thanks to IS’ despicable act of burning the pilot, Jordan is no longer polarised about their country’s war in Syria. Egypt is following the same path of intervention, thanks to the butchering of the Egyptian workers.
This is not to propose a specific conspiracy or to purport to understand the exact dynamics that propel IS, but to raise questions: prominent among them is that IS’s mysterious roots, its sudden advent, massive growth, and unexplainable geopolitical expansion is inconsistent with the lack of enthusiasm for them and their cause among ordinary people.
In fact, if judged exclusively through the prism of people’s history, the IS phenomenon is ahistorical.
By exploring that assumption, IS can be better understood, and perhaps confronted. The answer does not lie in understanding either Islam or Muslims, but by following the money trail, regional intrigues, and obvious and not so-obvious competing political agendas. Simply put, ordinary people are not the force behind IS.
Not only does IS seem to have no strategy of its own, but its “strategy” is inexplicably and enigmatically consistent with those who are seeking to maintain military intervention, regionally and internationally, as the only way to handle Middle East crises.
If we accept that hypothesis, we are likely to change the way we explain and think about IS altogether.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56azfP8yI0E
To quote John Cleese, "You're not fooling anyone, you know..."
More and more people are figuring out that ISIS is not Islamic, and when Muslims as a whole turn on these bastards, they're gonna catch some hell.
Which is the same we should be doing to our security services.
--------------------------
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHLqaSZPe98