DISINFO: Jihadists in the Middle East are US and European proxies fighting the West’s war in Syria and Iraq
SUMMARY
Jihadists have been used by the US and European states as proxies to fight the West’s war in Syria and Iraq.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative suggesting that the US and the West more broadly sponsor terrorism.
There is no evidence that the US or other Western states have supported ISIS/Daesh in Syria and Iraq. In reality, the US and its European allies are committed to fighting terrorist organisations, such as Daesh and Al-Qaeda. The US-led military campaign in Syria fought ISIS/Daesh along with the Global Coalition Against Daesh.
Ever since the September 11 terrorist attacks the US and its European allies have been engaged in an enormous military and intelligence effort to counter Al Qaeda, ISIS and other radical Islamist terrorist groups around the world.
It is also false that the US and other Western governments are complicit with, or indifferent to, Jihadist attacks against Christians in the Middle East. In March 2016, the US State Department recognised that ISIS was responsible for genocide against Christians, Yazidis, and Shiite Muslims. In February 2016, the European Parliament denounced the systematic mass murder of Christians and other religious minorities in Syria and Iraq by ISIS/Daesh.
Similar cases include that ISIS has been supported by US, British, French and Israeli intelligence services in order to demolish Syria, that the US and Europe support Jihadist forces in Syria, and that Al Baghdadi was an American product.