ISIS - What Role Do We Play?

If you had access to the internet in the past couple of weeks, then you are familiar with the name ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria). They are currently the biggest threat to the national security of many western nations and the new face of "the war on terror". The expansion of ISIS has entirely reformed the politics of the middle-east as well as neighboring European nations. It has certainly affected the supposedly "safe" North American continent, and if you think ISIS has nothing to do with you, you are wrong. The Parliament Hill shooting late last year by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau and his possible connection to ISIS, the seemingly unending news reports of Canadians being radicalized by ISIS, Canada's increased military involvement in the middle-east as well as the new proposed C-51 "anti-terrorism" bill are undeniable evidences that ISIS is having an impact in North America.

In 2003, the U.S. under the Bush administration invaded Iraq. Killing Saddam Hussein and installing democracy in the country. At the same time, the U.S. military destroyed the infrastructure of the country. This left a "power vacuum" that gave rise to a small insurgent group in Iraq in 2006. In 2009, ISIS shifted its focus to the Syrian Civil War where countries such as the U.S., Isreal, and Saudi Arabia were providing money, training, and weapons to the rebels Syrian Free Army in the name of democracy. In 2013 the CNN reported that "CIA-funded weapons have begun flowing to Syrian rebels". Part of that group later formed the Islamic State group, beginning the ISIS group.

Currently, the U.S. and Canada are bombing ISIS controlled oil fields in Syria and Iraq to crumble their funding source. Again, destroying the infrastructure. Why are there no sanctions established for banks and oil companies that are trading with ISIS? So it must be logical that the U.S. has alternative motives in the region. Maybe they are trying to destroy the Syrian infrastructure and collapse al-Assad's government. History again and again, the U.S. is creating its own enemies. In fact, Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein are both funded and started by the CIA.

I am in no shape or form suggesting that the we are the ones to blame for the radical movements of ISIS. What they are doing is undoubtedly wrong, cruel, and inhumane.  However, it is important to realize the implications of our foreign policies, and the actions our political leaders are taking in the name of democracy.