Editor, Times-Union: Ever since the creation of democratic nations – where public opinion somewhat matters – the ruling class is faced with a dilemma. War is needed for them to gain power, riches, and control, but the general public has a tendency to be against it. What to do? The answer was found decades ago and is still used successfully today. They need to create an enemy, or bogeyman so terrifying that the masses will beg their government to go to war. Appropriately, ISIS literally popped out of nowhere, causing mayhem in the very regions of the Middle East the U.S., and its allies have been looking to attack for years. However, Isis is not the reason the U.S. is going to war. Isis is the pretext. This is why Isis exists. This is why news sources regularly come up with alarmist headlines about Isis. Isis is a terror group created and used to serve the best interests of the U.S. and its allies. Consequently, the current objectives of the U.S., and its allies are to use Isis to sway public opinion to favor the invasion of countries in the Middle East, and manufacture a domestic threat that will be used to take away rights and increase surveillance. Isis has all the marks of yet another instance of the age-old tactic of creating a terrifying enemy to scare the masses. Created to facilitate war abroad and repression at home. When it comes to the quest for riches, and control it seems almost impossible to explain the depths of the corruption that exist at the highest levels today. Essentially, Isis literally popped out of nowhere as a nearly professional military causing mayhem in the very regions the U.S., and its allies have been looking to attack for years. Isis indeed appears to be tailor-made to help the U.S. and its coalition reach its military objectives in the Middle East. Current Isis strongholds are located exactly where the U.S. and its coalition have already been looking to invade. It is only a matter of time before airstrikes will be deemed ineffective and ground troops become necessary. In the end, these operations will complete a long-term plan of re-organizing the Middle East, eliminating any threats to Israel and significantly increasing pressure on Iran, the region’s remaining self-governing nation. But the American empire and its allies deserves credit for cleverly disguising its true intentions in its conquests by appealing to a bogus war on terror. By creating Isis, an enemy figure in the form of global terrorism, the U.S., and its coalition has made it easy for the public to turn a blind eye towards the nation’s aggressive foreign policy in most parts of the world. Isis, a bogeyman ready-made to create fear, consequently furthering the police state, and giving the ruling elite the excuse to continue their quest for power, riches, and control. So off to war our sons and daughters must go, to spill their blood for the power-elites’ self-serving interest. Bennie Hively Warsaw, via email
