Events in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria show the undying Arab appetite for conspiracy theories
Some people in the Arab world believe that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was prodded by foreign powers in the Iran-Iraq war and that it was the US envoy in Baghdad who incited him to invade Kuwait, columnist Abdulrahman Al Rashed claimed in the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al
Awsat. Similarly, some argue that Libya’s revolution against Muammar Qaddafi was a foreign act and the toppling of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak was also a conspiracy.
Others surmise the Muslim Brotherhood’s rise to power was the outcome of careful US planning. For their part, the Brotherhood think Egypt’s General Abdel Fattah El Sisi turned against them because of Western interference.
And for three years now, the Syrian regime has been saying the West is manipulating the revolution, while the rebels insist there’s a conspiracy underway to besiege their revolution and keep Bashar Al Assad in power.
“I don’t want to completely deny conspiracy theories since secret security apparatuses from every country take part in operations that are meant to influence situations in a direction that best benefits their own country,” the writer said.
“But there is no denying that conspiracy theories in modern history is exaggerated.”
There is considerable confusion between exploiting major events to alter their course in one direction or another and designing and orchestrating events from scratch. For example, the fall of Iran’s Shah in 1979 was almost inevitable after the unrest in Tehran. The West chose to support Ayatollah Khomeini at the time over his opponents, which strengthened his position, but Khomeini was already a prominent figure, not a western invention. And when Saddam decided to invade Iran a year after Khomeini seized power, the decision was his alone and it reflected his naive understanding of the world around him. Saddam believed that the fall of the Shah and chaos in Iran would be an opportunity for him to reclaim what he believed to be occupied Iraqi territories. And undoubtedly, the US did take advantage of Saddam’s foolishness especially because he was quite predictable.
“We Arabs tend to use conspiracy theories whenever there is something we can’t deal with or understand,” he concluded.
“Conspiracy theories are a comfortable pillow for those who want to justify their failure or inability, but the truth is, when there is a will there is always a way and nothing could stand in our way if we decide to make something happen.
“I’m not saying there are no conspiracies out there. I’m saying they are mostly exploitations of emergent circumstances of our own doing. Nations like Japan, Germany and Turkey were able to rise from the ashes despite all odds and no one was able to stop them.”