The Truth Behind the Tragedy
How Islamophobia plays right into terrorist hands.
With much of the world in grief after the attacks in Baghdad, Beirut and Paris, many people were feeling the instantaneous rage of helplessness, directing those feelings at Syrian refugees and Muslims. In times after tragedy, some people, despite their better judgment, will hastily point the finger of blame at not only those responsible, but to those loosely affiliated by faith or region.
The thing is, these attacks are specifically designed to incite rage towards other Muslims and the people escaping this type of violence. It’s a cheap and easy way to manipulate and recruit more people who have been unjustly targeted because of their faith or ethnicity. If the suggestion that borders be closed and refugees be refused access is adopted, the very people who are fleeing daily violence are left with little to no options. They become new victims of be-headings, kidnappings and extortion. Or worse yet, are forced into battle because it would be the only way to provide any semblance of food or relative safety for their families.
When we divide ourselves from peaceful Muslims and refugees seeking asylum, this plays directly into extremist’s hands. Groups like ISIS would see the world split into two groups: those of Islamic faith and those who are not Muslim. It’s that lack of grey area that causes them to claim responsibility for any and all attacks across the world. By claiming responsibility, it widens the divide between rational and irrational political responses.
We should know better than to jump-before-looking politically after a national tragedy. It’s the very thing that created ISIS in the first place. Specifically after 9/11, it was often said by former President George W. Bush and much of his cabinet that “the terrorists hate our freedom” which couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Bin-Laden himself wrote:
“The aim [of the United States] is also to serve the Jews’ petty state and divert attention from its occupation of Jerusalem and murder of Muslims there. The best proof of this is their eagerness to destroy Iraq, the strongest neighboring Arab state, and their endeavor to fragment all the states of the region such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Sudan into paper statelets and through their disunion and weakness to guarantee Israel’s survival and the continuation of the brutal crusade occupation of the Peninsula.”
So because of the US support of Israel’s clash for land with Palestine and the eagerness of the US to meddle in the affairs of the Middle East, they attacked. They counted on us seeking violent retribution, and we did exactly that. They called our next play. We destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan and effectively “fragmented some the states of the region.”
There is no doubt that because of 9/11 the fabric of our society was changed forever. However, it came at the expense of: thousands of dead and wounded, a puppet Iraqi government with no discernible power, and a desperate need by civilians who lived through a decade of war with nowhere to turn.
Imagine if suddenly, the government you know is gone. Yes, the Hussein regime was terrible, but this power vacuum allowed radicalized rebels to spread their theology. They had a small nook in Iraq, but without money or resources, they were essentially a group of pissed off people with some kooky ideas about government. It wasn’t until they went to Syria with supplies left by US forces that they had any kind of muscle. Now that group of pissed off people with some kooky ideas about government had guns and people to use them on. They carved out a self-proclaimed caliphate for themselves in the middle of a civil war in Syria and were able to expand their territory in Iraq because they had almost no one to oppose them.
Like the Donald Trump Presidential Candidacy, we didn’t take ISIS seriously until they started gaining momentum. Now that they have spread their influence, nobody is really sure how to combat them. We’ve trained Syrian rebels, but their focus has been on defeating Assad. Now that we’ve pulled our own forces out of the region, we are trying desperately to avoid going back in and for good reason.
The war on terror is an indelible scar that we wore with pride for almost a decade. Fighting terrorism became an almost singular obsession. We became a little colder and a little less willing to talk and a lot more willing to fight.
In the end, they wanted us to hate our own freedom, and it worked. We put cameras everywhere, allowed our government to spy on our phone calls and emails. We gave millions to private security companies to scan you so TSA workers could laugh at your naked body, and gave military training and weapons to local law enforcement (which are now used regularly on civilians). We know not to bother with simple things like bottled water when going through airport security and wear slip on shoes so we can get through mandatory checks faster. And for what?
It can be argued that we’re not any safer than we were before the 9/11 attack, because most of the recent foiled terror plots were due to efforts from the FBI in setting up would be terrorists in sting like scenarios and arresting them before any solidified murderous plans could be carried out.
It’s worth noting that when it comes to personal safety, we’d do anything to keep those we love safe. We’d become the most repressive, authoritarian government since East Berlin if it meant your children would be safe, and it would be the wrong move. They’d allow the rest of us to live under authoritarian control if it meant the spooky terrorists “jihad-ing freedom” stayed away.
They are literally counting on us making the same mistakes we’ve made before. The jingoistic, saber rattling for blood and revenge, is the same tactic that keeps the war on terror going strong. There are state governors vowing to keep refugees from entering their states, much to the delight of some constituents that fear the scourge of ISIL. It’s a familiar xenophobic streak that emerges when brown people need safety and look to the US to provide it.
What happened in Kenya because of Al-shabaab was an unquestionable tragedy. What happened in Baghdad, Beirut, and Paris because of ISIS affiliates was a monstrous act that stunned us to the very core. Yet, we have to be willing to be bigger than blindly attack or deny aid to people because of how they pray or where they live. We should have already learned that lesson 15 years ago.
