Muslims Buy Another Conspiracy Theory About the US – And This One Will Get Americans Killed

Despite billions of dollars in funding, aid, and support, Iraqis now seem to believe that the United States is partnered with ISIS. As ludicrous as it may seem, the paranoia is compromising the lives of US army advisors on the ground. If Iraqis don’t trust their American counterparts, then joint operations against jihadists may be incredibly dangerous. The distrust may breed resentment, which in turn generates mutiny and perhaps even violence directed against American soldiers.

The conspiracy theory runs deep into Iraqi society, affecting every stratum, even those affiliated with the military. “Iraqi fighters say they have all seen the videos purportedly showing U.S. helicopters airdropping weapons to the militants, and many claim they have friends and relatives who have witnessed similar instances of collusion,” reports The Washington Post. “Ordinary people also have seen the videos, heard the stories and reached the same conclusion — one that might seem absurd to Americans but is widely believed among Iraqis — that the United States is supporting the Islamic State for a variety of pernicious reasons that have to do with asserting U.S. control over Iraq, the wider Middle East and, perhaps, its oil.”

For Iraqis, the accusations are deadly serious. US military personnel on the ground appear taken aback. “It’s beyond ridiculous. There’s clearly no one in the West who buys it, but unfortunately, this is something that a segment of the Iraqi population believes,” stated a US military spokesman stationed in Baghdad.

Conspiracy theories against the West are far too common in the Muslim world. In fact, “blame the Jews” appears to be at the heart of these allegations, as a disturbing number of Muslims across the world believe that cabals of Zionist henchmen are driving the world order. From Illuminati to the Freemasons to even ISIS, both educated and poverty-stricken Muslims alike indulge in the warped worldview of Jewish hegemony over the West, and by extension the rest of the world. Even Islamic apologist Mehdi Hassan is dumbfounded by the utter banality of Muslim suspension of disbelief. Hassan writes in The New Statesman:

Did you know that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of Isis, was trained by Mossad and the CIA? Were you aware that his real name isn’t Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai but Simon Elliot? Or that he’s a Jewish actor who was recruited by the Israelis to play the part of the world’s most wanted terrorist?

If the messages in my email in-box and my Twitter timeline and on my Facebook page are anything to go by, plenty of Muslims are not only willing to believe this nonsensical drivel but are super-keen to share it with their friends. The bizarre claim that NSA documents released by Edward Snowden “prove” the US and Israel are behind al-Baghdadi’s actions has gone viral.

Hassan confesses “millions of Muslims across the globe have a soft spot for such hoaxes. Conspiracy theories are rife in both Muslim-majority countries and Muslim communities here in the West.” This “vast array of hoaxers, hucksters and fantasists” come from all corners of the earth, from “Birmingham to Beirut.”

“Ordinary people also have seen the videos, heard the stories and reached the same conclusion — one that might seem absurd to Americans but is widely believed among Iraqis — that the United States is supporting the Islamic State for a variety of pernicious reasons that have to do with asserting U.S. control over Iraq, the wider Middle East and, perhaps, its oil.”

Washington Post

US efforts to defeat ISIS may be hampered and even doomed to fail if the Muslim world continues entertaining anti-Western sentiment. The deep-rooted delusion is ubiquitous, a plague across the Muslim world. According to Hassan, “the denialism persists,” adding, “A Pew poll in 2011, a decade after 9/11, found that a majority of respondents in countries such as Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon refused to believe that the attacks were carried out by Arab members of al-Qaeda. ‘There is no Muslim public in which even 30 per cent accept that Arabs conducted the attacks,’ the Pew researchers noted.”