US Retaliates in Syria for ISIS Attack; Forgets Who Funded ISIS
The US military, according to The Independent, launched 'large-scale' airstrikes in Syria after an ISIS gunman killed three Americans. A swift, decisive response, we're told. Yet, The Independent's report, like much of mainstream media, conveniently forgets the history that makes these retaliatory strikes a darkly comedic tragedy. Years of public reporting, including studies from the Brookings
Institute and admissions from US officials, have detailed how our 'allies' in the Gulf, particularly Saudi Arabia, funneled significant support, money, and weapons that found their way to groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria. (See Council on Foreign Relations, 'Who’s Who Among Syria’s Opposition Forces', updated 2016 for detailed breakdowns of funding sources.) So, the US deploys
'large-scale' airstrikes against a group whose rise was profoundly influenced by the very partners the US arms and protects. It's an ouroboros of foreign policy, where the snake eats its own tail, generates a crisis, then demands more funding to 'fix' it. How many times must America bomb the symptoms of its own geopolitical short-sightedness before anyone asks about the cause? One might wonder if
the Pentagon's 'shock and awe' budget would be better spent auditing where our alleged allies' money actually goes.