US imperial ambitions the basis of growing Mideast conflicts

IF YOU want to understand what’s really going on in the Middle East, start by removing the myth of organised terrorism.

As British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told the House of Commons shortly before his death in 2005: “There is no terrorist group called al-Qaeda. The country behind this propaganda is the US.” “Al-Qaeda” is likely no more than a name applied to any violent attack on Westerners carried out by radicalised Muslims anywhere.

The self-styled Islamic State (IS), meanwhile, bears all the hallmarks of a false flag operation. Their weapons and vehicles are American, their uniforms belong in a martial arts movie and Hollywood studios couldn’t have done a more professional job of their videos. Even if we accept the standard narrative, what purpose would terrorist attacks on foreign soil serve? The powder keg was created when Britain and France drew up the Middle East’s borders after World War I. This was done irrespective of ethnic and religious boundaries. The major divide runs between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

The latter are the majority in only a few countries, notably Iran and Iraq. Syria has a Sunni majority but its leadership is Alawite, a minority sect closer to Shia. This is the basis of the conflict there.

Another fault line runs through the region in terms of secular government and religion. The US is inclined to back theocracies and dictatorships over democratic governments. In the 1980s, for example, the US backed the Mujahideen against the Soviets in Afghanistan, helping to bring down a progressive socialist government and create the Taliban. The US returned following the 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers. Only, this time they were fighting the Taliban, who they accused of harbouring terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Fourteen years later, the US and the Taliban are still there in spite of the fact that Bin Laden was apparently killed in 2011.

Meanwhile, work is about to begin on a pipeline which will transport gas out of Central Asia to the Indian Ocean – via Afghanistan; which has been on the agenda ever since the break-up of the USSR. The US also tends to side with its Sunni allies against the Shia countries. The US supported Iraq’s Sunni minority leadership in its vicious eight-year war on Iran in the 1980s. This followed the 1979 Revolution in Iran, which removed the Shah and ended US control. In 1953 the CIA orchestrated the overthrow of Iran’s first democratic government after it nationalised the oil industry. But in 1991, when Saddam Hussein tore up the postWorld War I borders to “reclaim” Kuwait, US invaded Iraq. The second invasion 12 years later was based on false intelligence and has led to an estimated one million deaths. This conflict has also yet to reach its conclusion, even though Hussein was hanged nine years ago. A similar fate awaited Colonel Muammar Gaddafi who, during a 42-year-reign as Libya’s leader, had transformed the country into one of the most prosperous on the continent. But he eventually ran foul of the US, his country was invaded, Gaddafi was savagely murdered, and the turmoil has divided Libya and spread to Mali.

Syria does not have the vast oil reserves of Iraq and Libya. But, like Afghanistan, it offers a direct route for a lucrative gas pipeline. President Bassar al-Assad, one of the few Middle East leaders remaining outside US control, has refused to authorise such a project. The US and its allies have created a proxy war in Syria by arming and training anti-government rebels and continuing to do so even when it became apparent some had turned to terrorism. IS, mythical or otherwise, thus served as the pretext for direct military intervention. But efforts to remove Assad have been foiled by Russia which has so far bombed both the rebels and terrorists with far greater efficiency than the Nato cabal combined.

Aside from those wishing to see Sunni majority rule in Syria, Israel has a border dispute with Damascus over the Golan Heights. A large amount of oil has recently been discovered in the area. The Jewish state’s security is paramount to the US. It does not appear to be of much concern that Israel is carrying out periodic massacres of its native Palestinian population. US support for Israel, and its manipulation of religious and political divisions to further its imperial designs, are the basis of these conflicts.

Poulsen is a former New Zealand journalist living in Ankara, Turkey

Another fault line runs through the region in terms of secular government and religion