The tangled web of just who is friend and who is foe throughout the Middle East continues [6] but one thing is sure, US politicians won't miss the chance to drum up some fearmongery. Sen. Lindsey Graham said that U.S. officials have warned the next major attack on U.S. soil could emanate from the region, adding "the seeds of 9/11s are being planted all over Iraq and Syria." Media is picking up on the meme fast - "This is a cauldron of future terrorist threats to the west," said CBS analyst and Ret. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who said that "all Americans should be concerned" by ISIS' quick rise and success in Iraq. It appears simple - the US population must believe that only the US government can prevent the "imminent" threat (that ironically it funded and created). This is a win for both neo-cons (defense spending hoo-rah) and neo-liberals (cover for more boots-on-the-ground broken promises to come). The fearmongery has begun.
Judging by CBS News [7], we are in major trouble...
Experts say the group's increasing power and reach is concerning, though it's not entirely clear when they might be able to threaten the U.S.
"You've got motivation mixed with opportunity, ideology and foreign fighters and all of that looks like a very extreme version of Afghanistan in the '90s, plus what was happening in Iraq after the Iraq war," said CBS News National Security Analyst Juan Zarate. "This is a cauldron of future terrorist threats to the west."
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"The seeds of 9/11s are being planted all over Iraq and Syria," Graham said. "They want an Islamic caliphate that runs through Syria and Iraq...and they plan to drive us out of the Mideast by attacking us here at home."
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"These are not monkey bar terrorists out in the desert somewhere planning some very low-level attack. These are sophisticated, command and controlled, seasoned combat veterans who understand the value of terrorism operations external to the region, meaning Europe and the United States. That is about as dangerous a recipe as you can put together," he said.
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There have been some indications this might be the group's intent. Army Col. Kenneth King, who was the commanding officer of a U.S. detention camp in Iraq, told the Daily Beast recently that when current ISIS head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was released in 2009, he said, "I'll see you guys in New York."
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"That's one of the downsides of U.S. involvement," he told CBS News. "The more we visibly get involved in helping the [Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki] government fight these guys, the more we become a target."
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As the groups grow in strength, "we in some ways then have to play defense, which is a lot harder to do if we're not playing offense at the same time," he said.
The neo-cons and neo-liberals appear to have a common enemy once again - the "keep the people scared enough that they'll agree to fund any and everything" Iraq insurgents. As ISIS spreads aross the middle east, it is clear that the US politik must make the US people realize just how critical this is - for spending on defense (Republicans happy) and boots-on-the-ground (Obama rescued from another missed promise thanks to popular support to save us all from ISIS).
Of course the irony is not lost on us that:
On one hand US arms the rebels, Al Qaeda extremists who have warned they will launch an attack
The US government keeps quiet until things go FUBAR
Then, when the same people US supported for so long turn on US national interest, it is time to whip out the 9/11 card
An almost perfect Keynesian hole dug and refilled - that appears to never get old.
h/t WilliamBanzai7
