ISIL and the West: A Clash of Savageries

It is all deja vu; a repeat of the post-9/11 scenario that led to the bombing of Afghanistan in 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Both interventions wreaked havoc and destruction and unleashed gross violations of human rights in the name of a ““.

Exploiting fear and grief

That does not exactly include Israeli criminal acts against Palestinians, often caught on camera, but “Israeli exceptionalism” absolves it from accusations of savagery.

In the West and according to Israeli political lingo, savagery is a trait confined to other nations who fall outside “shared values of democracy and freedom”, a propaganda concept that is used to camouflage – even whitewash – all Israeli and Western government crimes.

” and the “shock and awe” doctrine.

Destroyed two countries

” destroyed two countries: Afghanistan and especially Iraq, not through carpet bombings only but, in the case of Iraq, by dismantling the state along with two of the best health and education systems in the Arab world.

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Al-Qaeda barely existed in Iraq, but thanks to the US-led “operation freedom”, and the alienation of the Sunni population by both the US and the sectarian Shia ruling parties, its offshoot ISIL gained momentum that enabled it to control a sizeable portion of Iraqi land.

Lamis Andoni is an analyst and commentator on Middle Eastern and Palestinian affairs. She tweets at @LamisAndoni.