Throughout history there have always been villains, enemies. There are reasons for villains, some might say there's a need for them. As the 21st century unfolds, ISIS has emerged as the enemy and it exists for multiple reasons. Based on history and the evolving nature and impact of the military-industrial-congressional (and oil) complex, one might say there's a need for a villain like ISIS.
First, a few thoughts about the nature of villains. Some say ISIS is unlike any enemy we've faced or seen, but that's not the case. Yes, their methods of death and destruction might seem to be 'worse' than enemies in the past, but that's mostly because we live in a world in which we're technologically connected like never before. Social media gives this enemy a platform for communicating directly to all who have Internet access. They use it to recruit. They use it to network and coordinate attacks. They use it to terrorize the world. They are masters of manipulation and horrific theater. They goad us. They let us see inside their twisted minds and methods. They strive to make us live in fear that we could be the next to die. Effective. Yes, ISIS is a villain.
The accounts of civilians -- children, women, aid workers, journalists -- beheaded or killed in other shocking, almost unimaginable ways, elevates this enemy to a level which is new to most of us, except for those who have seen combat or for anyone who pays attention to history. The number of those killed by ISIS fighters is hard to calculate, but most estimates place the count in the tens of thousands rather than the tens of millions murdered by Stalin, Mao or various factions and despots in Africa (just in the past century) or the millions killed by Hitler, Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge, the Kims of Korea and others. Not to diminish in any way any pain or suffering, but ISIS is a relatively small-time villain by comparison.
Does ISIS target civilians more than past large-scale murderous regimes? No. Civilians are always the target of cowards and lunatics. (It's estimated of the approximate 250,000 deaths in the nearly five years since Syria's civil war began, ISIS is responsible for less than 5 percent. A ruthless dictator in Syria has been responsible for far more deaths than ISIS.) Are their methods more brutal? No, not really. I don't suggest anyone investigate the means of death inflicted by past or present criminal regimes, but beheading is humane in comparison to many ways people are murdered by madmen.
And something which seems to matter most to many in the US: Are they killing Christians on a mass scale? No, not in relative terms. And furthermore, Muslims of other sects have been the biggest target for ISIS. It is to their 'marketing advantage' (and they are masters at marketing) to publicize the killing of non-Muslims and de-emphasize the murder of other Muslims. Yes, the Islamic State is motivated by religious (and political) beliefs, based on their interpretation of the Quran. But all of us who follow religious teachings, approach our respective beliefs with our own interpretations of sacred texts. Apparently ISIS would like to 'rule the world,' (although there is simply no way that is close to happening), but even more important to those who are part of it, is their desire to bring about the End Times. Seeing the world come to an end is more important to them than running it. Oddly enough, they believe they are ushering in the return of Jesus who will defeat the armies of Rome. (ISIS publishes a slick magazine, "Dabiq," which outlines their way of thinking.)
North Korea continues to top the list of countries -- as it has for many years -- where Christianity is persecuted the most and China is no winner in that category, either. (Note: This persecution has nothing to do with Islam.) It is acceptable for us to label North Korea's Kim Jong-un as a villain because he apparently has nothing the US needs or wants. And because North Korea has nothing we want, we also generally ignore them because they aren't killing Westerners. China persecutes and imprisons Christians on a regular basis, enforces state-sponsored abortions (360 to 400 million in the past three decades) and yet we would never dare name that country a villain because, among other reasons, we love buying their cheap crap, especially during the Christmas season. So, we also ignore their atrocities, but for different reasons.
THE NEED FOR VILLAINS
Think of the need for villains. I hadn't considered this until several years ago -- because it's one more thing kids aren't taught in history classes -- when I realized my dad's grandparents were 100 percent American citizens, with 100 percent German ancestry and my father mentioned that they spoke German. Yet he knew not a single word of it and retained no German traditions. Why? I finally figured it out. My dad was born in 1918 as WWI was winding down, but anti-German hysteria in the US -- the flames of which had been vigorously fanned by President Woodrow Wilson -- was still in full swing. (Wilson gets my vote for Worst President Ever, by the way, for a variety of reasons.)
In the 19th century, millions of Germans immigrated to the US, and they were welcome additions to the melting pot. In the years leading up to the turn of the century and WWI, that all changed and Germans in America were targeted with hate as the country was enticed to panic, especially by Wilson's administration. It was a horrible time to be of German ancestry in the US. 'Patriotic societies' could call loyalty into question for any (or no) reason. Germans were persecuted, physically harmed and run out of business. In West Plains, Missouri, my hometown, a German family was allegedly "burned out of town" during WWI when their business caught on fire and there was no attempt by the town's fire department to put out the flames until it was too late to save the business. Not our finest hour.
After war was declared, Wilson proclaimed all German-American citizens to be "alien enemies." They couldn't live near airports or military facilities and they were also banned from port towns and the nation's capital. In 1918, Germans had to fill out registration papers and be fingerprinted. Those who failed to comply or who were considered dangerous were detained in internment camps for the duration of the war. Wilson needed to keep the country focused on an enemy, a villain, so that support for the war didn't lag. The villains of WWII of course were Americans who were Japanese. They were forced from their homes and into concentration camps. Germans and Italians in the US also had a taste of hate during that time, too, although oddly, Germans were lesser villains in WWII.
Then that war ended and there was another shift in who the villains were when communism was perceived to be a dark force which would envelope the world and bring us down. Communism had a long run as the Worst Possible Villain (from 1947 until the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991). The Cold War, The Korean War and The Vietnam War were (at face value) because of our fear of the villainous communists. At more complicated levels, those wars were especially good for the business of war as the military-industrial (-congressional) complex really began to hit its stride just as President Eisenhower warned (or predicted?) it would. Once the major players got a taste of the profits to be made by continually making war and meddling in the business of other sovereign nations, it's been non-stop.
Of course, the Germans and the Japanese are our friends now, so they can no longer be the villains. Even the communists have cleaned up their acts enough that we tolerate them. (Some are still repressive regimes who rule with an iron fist, but so what, right? They're our trading partners, so we'll give them a pass.) Let's see, who could be a good enemy? Let's make terrorism the villain, and since people might start figuring out that terrorism in one form or another has always been the enemy, let's evolve it into a holy war, and give it a face because a War on Terrorism stretches the limits of irony just a little too far. Radical Muslims have been labeled and identified as the enemy, a villain which can take up our resources for several decades.
This is of course an over-simplified assessment, but it's how we've come to be in a permanent state of war in the Persian Gulf region: military operations there in the 90s, Afghanistan, Iraq, The Islamic State. One has run into another with no end in sight. We haven't solved anything. We've created a quagmire that none other than Dick Cheney predicted in 1994 would happen if we invaded Iraq. Ah, the irony just keeps going.
PRESENT DAY
And now we have the alleged threat of Syrian refugees and every adherent of Islam right here in our country to focus our attention on because, just like in times past, there are many powerful men who need a country filled with so-called patriotic Americans lining up to hate whatever villain, whatever enemy, we're told to hate. But hate is not patriotism and what we're contemplating by getting on board with the likes of Donald Trump is shameful, disgusting behavior such as Americans have displayed in times past and which we have come to regret with the passage of time.
I don't believe a majority of Americans want to be seen by the rest of the world as hate-filled and xenophobic. Let's stop allowing ourselves to be manipulated by fear and start asking ourselves questions such as: Why exactly do we need an enemy? Is it to fuel someone else's greed? To fire up political bases in an election year? To distract us from the real issues at hand?
ISIS needs an enemy because they want war. If our goal is to make peace why are we trying to make villains of an entire religion right here in our own country? The reasons we have villains are more and more convoluted all of the time. We're being more and more easily led down a path of hate every day and it is sucking the life out of us, literally. We are distracted from innovation and compassion and if anything is likely to lead to the end of civilization as we know it, that's it.
Consider this:
- Worldwide, 8 million people die from cancer each year.
- Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffering from water-related diseases and 1.6 million die from those diseases, 90 percent of the deaths are children under the age of 5.
- At least 1.5 million people die from tuberculosis each year.
- In 2014, 1.2 million people died from AIDS.
The list goes on. How about we focus on solving these issues as a means of achieving peace?
Call me naive. That's fine. But I challenge anyone to show me hard evidence of how bombing an enemy like ISIS into oblivion is even possible. It's like stomping around in a room full of roaches, killing a few and sending the others scurrying to hide in the walls. Even if it is possible to miraculously wipe out ISIS (let's be realistic, we're heading down the road of US ground troops in that attempted scenario), then how can that effectively solve the long-term problem of the repressive Syrian government versus rebels? And how does it work especially without a full-scale plan to rebuild the infrastructure which will be destroyed, leaving Syrians without a place to live and work? And where will we get the resources to do all of that? Merely throw another trillion dollars on the debt load? Great plan.
We're all being played for fools by politicians and our own government, and for those who think hating Muslims and trying to ban people from the US based on religion is the magic answer to dealing with an enemy who has mastered social media and recruits across borders without the need to even enter a country, then naive and misguided is the kindest description I have for that way of thinking.
When we allow fear to motivate and drive policy, if we turn on each other and turn our back on the principles of a free society, that's how ISIS wins.
