Part 22
Ehsan Arab
Legitimizing the Crimes of the Occupiers
From their very inception, the Daeshi Khawarij emerged with a sinister and ominous agenda, cloaking themselves in Islamic slogans such as “establishing the Caliphate” and “jihad against the infidels.” However, it soon became clear that their sharpened blades did not target the tyrants and oppressors of the time, but rather the chests of defenseless civilians.
What distinguished the Daeshi Khawarij from other despotic forces was their calculated display of savagery. Instead of concealing their crimes, they meticulously documented them, professionally filming beheadings and executions, whether of non-Muslims or even Muslims, and disseminated them through global media platforms. These grotesque images, which flagrantly contradicted the core teachings and values of Islam, were precisely the kind of material Western media and occupying powers had long awaited.
The group’s high-quality videos, crafted with technical precision and rapid distribution, circulated widely across the globe. People who had previously heard about the atrocities committed by foreign occupying armies in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria were now confronted with a new, more dramatic “threat,” one that made even the bombing of civilian homes seem relatively minor in comparison.
By committing unspeakable acts in the name of Islam, while falsely claiming to represent the religion, ISIS deeply distorted the global perception of Islam. Each gruesome act, from the beheading of Western journalists to the burning of captives, not only intensified global fear but also helped justify the invaders’ aggression under the pretext of a “war on terror.”
In this manufactured atmosphere of fear, every missile strike, night raid, or village destruction could be whitewashed as a necessary measure against terrorism. Civilian casualties and large-scale devastation were no longer seen as war crimes. They were accepted as unfortunate but necessary sacrifices in the effort to defeat ISIS. In effect, ISIS became a propaganda tool in the hands of the occupiers, used to normalize and even legitimize their continued violence in Muslim lands.
The psychological warfare unleashed by the Daeshi Khawarij proved immensely beneficial to the occupiers. Their atrocities gave Western governments the cover they needed to obscure their own crimes. Bombings, drone strikes, and foreign military occupations were reframed not as imperialist aggression but as noble efforts to rescue the world from barbarity.
In truth, however, the same forces that today claim to fight ISIS were the very actors who, in the past, enabled the group’s rise. Whether through direct support, strategic neglect, or by creating the conditions of chaos that gave birth to such extremism, they paved the way for ISIS’s emergence.
Ultimately, the Daeshi Khawarij, through their brutal imagery, false jihadist rhetoric, and terrifying acts, rendered an extraordinary service to the West. They helped recast invasion and occupation as moral imperatives. Meanwhile, the blood of innocent Muslims, overshadowed by the theatrical violence of ISIS, was rendered invisible, forgotten, and insignificant.
This bitter reality exposes the true nature of the Daeshi Khawarij: mere pawns in the hands of the occupiers, used as tools to sanitize their bloodstained crimes and conceal their oppression beneath the soil of Islamic lands.