ISIS is the new menace in the Middle East. Aside from its revolting and inhumane ways, it is also portrayed as a serious threat to Western interests in the region. The governments of Syria and Iraq, which are directly affected by ISIS, consider it to be a mortal threat. And even those Arab governments not directly affected by ISIS such Saudi Arabia and other Sheikdoms feel that it threatens their stability and future. However, no one is trying to think why such a militant and clearly extreme Islamist movement can spread so easily across such a wide swath of territory with little resistance and with clear acceptance from the populations where it now exerts influence.
The birth of ISIS is a direct result of the artificial boundaries created by 'Great' Britain and France while dividing their colonial exploits in the aftermath of the First World War using the dictum 'Divide and Conquer'. These boundaries created countries like Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia out of many clans and tribes that existed when the Ottoman Empire disintegrated. Some of these clans belonged together. The colonialists did not think to ask for the opinions of those concerned since they had right to choose. As an example, the Kurds were divided between Syria, Iraq and Turkey.
In the ensuing years, the colonialists lost much of their influence. For a long time thereafter, the same army officers that led revolutions against the colonialists suppressed their populations through long-lasting dictatorships. Ultimately, they ended up serving the interests of the colonialists by maintaining the divisions they imposed. Until recently, the Arab people never had a say in what was going on in their own lands.
The Arabs have much to unite them, including language, history, culture and most importantly, religion. And after many years of colonial rule followed by dictatorships by their own army officers, the Arab people now yearn to liberate themselves from tyranny. They want to unite and strive for a better future.
The Arab Spring is just one symptom of the Arab masses revolt against their masters and those who support them. ISIS is another symptom of the same phenomenon. Although the methods used by ISIS are both revolting and extreme from any standpoint, ISIS represents just another stage in the struggle for the Arabs to free themselves from tyranny and gain control of their lives. Revolutions against tyranny are rarely peaceful. They are always long messy struggles and are seldom smooth or predictable. In the long run they are usually successful in achieving their aims. Just look at the French and American Revolutions as examples.
Those who oppose revolutions for freedom and democracy usually end on the loosing side of history. If the United States, which inherited the colonialist mantle from the British, continues to oppose the revolting Arab masses, it will predictably end up on the wrong side of history as well. 'Great' Britain, which was the supreme colonialist power for centuries, ended up not so 'great' after all. In fact, it, itself, is in danger of breaking up. A similar fate awaits the United States if it continues to insist on imposing its imperialist vision on the freedom-seeking Arab nation. The history of the United States in the region is not stellar. Comparatively, the US has caused as much deaths and injuries in Iraq as to cause equivalent death and injury to all the populations of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago combined in the United States.
The United States, while it speaks frequently about freedom and democracy, continues to support regimes such as those in control of Saudi Arabia and Jordan and represent the antithesis to democracy, freedom, Liberty or human dignity. Instead of supporting such feudalist and corrupt regimes, the US should, in the least, let the Arab people fight for their own destiny, freedom and democracy without opposing them or supporting their oppressors. The American government needs to pay attention to the needs of the American People, rather than try to change the course of history in the Middle East.
The concept that we Americans are getting involved in opposing ISIS to secure the oil resources is vacuous. We are less dependent on Arab oil now than we ever were. The Arabs, Persians and the Russians cannot survive by drinking their oil and smoking their gas; they will need to sell it. We can probably buy what we need cheaper on the open market anyway.
