The interventionists will do anything to prevent Americans from seeing that
their foreign policies are perpetuating terrorism and inspiring others to seek
to harm us. The neocons know that when it is understood that blowback is real
- that people seek to attack us not because we are good and free but because
we bomb and occupy their countries - their stranglehold over foreign policy
will begin to slip.
That is why each time there is an event like the killings in Paris earlier
this month, they rush to the television stations to terrify Americans into
agreeing to even more bombing, more occupation, more surveillance at home,
and more curtailment of our civil liberties. They tell us we have to do it
in order to fight terrorism, but their policies actually increase terrorism.
If that sounds harsh, consider the recently-released 2015 Global Terrorism
Index report. The report shows that deaths from terrorism have increased dramatically
over the last 15 years - a period coinciding with the "war on terrorism" that
was supposed to end terrorism.
According to the latest report:
Terrorist activity increased by 80 per cent in 2014 to its highest recorded
level. ...The number of people who have died from terrorist activity has
increased nine-fold since the year 2000.
The world's two most deadly terrorist organizations, ISIS and Boko Haram,
have achieved their prominence as a direct consequence of US interventions.
Former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Michael Flynn was asked
last week whether in light of the rise of ISIS he regrets the invasion of Iraq.
He replied, "absolutely. ...The historic lesson is that it was a strategic
failure to go into Iraq." He added, "instead of asking why they attacked us,
we asked where they came from."
Flynn is no non-interventionist. But he does make the connection between the
US invasion of Iraq and the creation of ISIS and other terrorist organizations,
and he at least urges us to consider why they seek to attack us.
Likewise, the rise of Boko Haram in Africa is a direct result of a US intervention.
Before the US-led "regime change" in Libya, they just were a poorly-armed gang.
Once Gaddafi was overthrown by the US and its NATO allies, leaving the country
in chaos, they helped themselves to all the advanced weaponry they could get
their hands on. Instead of just a few rifles they found themselves armed with
rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns with anti-aircraft visors, advanced
explosives, and vehicle-mounted light anti-aircraft artillery. Then they started
killing on a massive scale. Now, according to the Global Terrorism Index, Boko
Haram has overtaken ISIS as the world's most deadly terrorist organization.
The interventionists are desperate to draw attention from the fact that their
policies contribute to terrorism. After the Paris attacks, neocons like former
CIA director James Woolsey actually pinned the blame on NSA whistleblower Edward
Snowden! He claimed that because of Snowden's revelations about NSA surveillance
the terrorists were using sophisticated encryption. He even called for Snowden
to be hanged because of it. But it was untrue: the Paris attackers did not
use encryption, and other groups had used encryption long before the Snowden
revelations.
Terrorism is increasing worldwide because of US and western interventionism.
That does not mean that if we suddenly followed a policy of non-interventionism
the world would become a peaceful utopia. But does anyone really believe that
continuing to do what increases terrorism will lead to a decrease in terrorism?
