More than a thousand words.

Selective Morality: Terrorism Only When Others Commit It.

Iran was, until 1953, ruled by a democratically elected government under Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh.

In a bold attempt to uphold his country’s financial sovereignty, Mosaddegh nationalized Iran’s oil industry, which until then had been under British control.

While this benefited Iran, it provoked Western powers, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States.

In response, MI6 and the CIA—British and American intelligence agencies—orchestrated a coup (Operation Ajax), which led to the overthrow of Mosaddegh’s government and the installation of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, a pro-Western monarch.

This puppet monarchy became a close ally of the West and granted them unrestricted access and control over Iranian resources.

In the country, it led to widespread political suppression, censorship, and brutal crackdowns on opposition.

Dissidents were silenced, and the infamous SAVAK intelligence agency ensured that criticism of the regime came at a heavy cost.

Eventually, the people overthrew the Shah in 1979 and ushered in the Islamic Republic. A theocracy led by Ayatollah Khomeini.

Since then, Iran has remained a theocratic state and has often been labeled a rogue nation by the United States.

In the same year—1979—the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to support the fragile communist government in Kabul. This was intended to maintain Soviet influence in the region and keep the flames of communism alive.

As part of Cold War rivalry, the United States—fiercely anti-communist—funded and armed the Mujahideen resistance fighters through Pakistan’s ISI.

Among those involved in the Mujahideen network was Osama bin Laden.

After the Soviet withdrawal and the collapse of Afghanistan’s communist regime, bin Laden went on to form al-Qaeda. This organization would later turn its focus toward opposing the United States.

Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for several terrorist attacks on US officials, including 9/11, and bin Laden was eventually killed by U.S. forces in 2011.

(It should be noted that bin Laden initially denied orchestrating 9/11.

Also, Islamic scholars—such as Sheikh Ibn Baz and Sheikh Muqbil bin Hādi al-Wādiʿī—had warned against bin Laden and his ideology years before 9/11)

In 2011, Hillary Clinton said, “We created Al-Qaeda.”

Iraq and Iran are two countries that share a border. They went to war shortly after Iran’s revolution.

In 1980, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, with support from the West, invaded Iran. The resulting war was brutal and lasted eight years.

The United States backed Saddam with intelligence and arms.

Then, ironically, in 2003, President George W. Bush formed a coalition with U.S. allies and invaded Iraq under the pretext of locating weapons of mass destruction or in simple terms, nuclear weapons.

This claim has since been proven to be completely false.

In May 2022, during a speech criticizing Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, former President George W. Bush made a Freudian slip, he said:

“The decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq—I mean, of Ukraine.”

He then added, of “Iraq too”

That war resulted in the deaths of over a million Iraqis. These were humans.

People suffered.

By God, the Iraqis were humiliated.

They were stripped of their dignity. The country was plundered.

May the Merciful Lord never show mercy to the oppressors and those who spread mischief on His land.

From the ashes of that war and the instability that followed came ISIS. Though their rise took years.

ISIS is generally considered an offshoot of al-Qaeda.

ISIS became one of the most brutal terrorist organizations in the world.

Imagine Boko Haram, then imagine 20 times that level of terror.

U.S. forces later killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

In 2016, during a presidential debate, Donald Trump claimed that ISIS was founded by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Later, he said it was sarcasm—but did he ever fully retract the statement? I don’t think so.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., during his 2024 independent presidential campaign, also claimed that the U.S. created ISIS.

Earlier this year, U.S. congressional hearings revealed that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had—”through a series of financial missteps—inadvertently funded groups with ties to terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Boko Haram.”

But I don’t think they were missteps. And I don’t think it was inadvertent.

CDS Christopher Musa about a week or two earlier mentioned in an interview on Al Jazeera that there was some sort of international conspiracy behind the terrorist groups in Nigeria, mainly, Boko Haram.

It’s also known that the U.S. funded opposition groups fighting the Syrian government during the civil war in 2011, many of whom received weapons that later ended up in the hands of extremists.

The U.S. continues to support the Syrian Democratic Forces to this day.

Let’s not forget Nelson Mandela. He was a celebrated icon for ending apartheid in South Africa. Yet, he too was labeled a terrorist by the United States and remained on the U.S. terrorism watchlist until 2008.

Why?

He led. the African National Congress (ANC). They used armed resistance in their struggle for freedom.

The United States continues to fund opposition groups in countries where the existing government doesn’t align with Western interests.

What's the goal?

That these groups, once in power, will adopt “Western values,” or at the very least, dismantle any systems the U.S. disapproves of.

But again and again, history shows that these interventions backfire catastrophically.

Notice the pattern?

When a government aligns with Western interests, it is supported.

When it does not, it is vilified, it is branded as authoritarian, extremist, or terrorist.

This is exactly what happened with Iran.

(For the record, I do not support the Iranian government’s ideology.)

It’s the same with terrorism.

Noam Chomsky beautifully stated that terrorism is often “defined not by the nature of the violence, but by who commits it.

To quote him verbatim:

“Terrorism is violence we don’t approve of.”

Nearly every major U.S. intervention has resulted in instability and in many cases, a rise in extremism.

In Afghanistan, they funded a resistance and abandoned it. We got al-Qaeda.

In Iraq, they removed a ‘dictator’ and left a vacuum. We got ISIS.

Now compare that to countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman.

These Arab states haven’t faced major U.S. military interventions.

They are, by comparison, remarkably stable.

No war.

No insurgency.

No occupation.

Most of them regularly appear in rankings of the most peaceful countries in the region.

But look at the nations that have seen U.S. troops, drones, or regime-change operations—Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria.

The vestiges of those interventions are often the breeding ground for extremist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS.

So again—why is this the case?

I am a Muslim and I'm not in the least drawn to terrorism.

Why are Muslims blamed for the consequences of failed interventions by foreign governments?

About a month ago, I was deeply frustrated by the events in Gaza. I was moved nearly to tears by the world’s indifference to their suffering.

And I’m not in Gaza. I haven’t experienced even a fraction of their pain.

So imagine those living there—those who’ve lost family, homes, dignity.

We ask why people join Hamas? But when someone’s entire family is wiped out—what do you think they’ll do?

Do you expect them to embrace the ones who annihilated their loved ones?

No. They’ll fight. And fight hard.

For your information, Israel allows Qatar to fund Hamas.

Hamas was allowed to thrive by Israel in an effort originally aimed at dividing the Palestinian leadership.

A lot of Israeli government officials have admitted to this. That Israel created Hamas.

But Hamas turned against them.

Hezbollah was formed after Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982.

Hezbollah is the terrorist but Israel is defending herself.

Again, Noam Chomsky:

“When the guys we don't like do it, it's terror. When the guys we do like do it, it's retaliation.”

Over a million Iraqis died in the U.S.-led war.

If joining ISIS gives a child the chance to exact even a sliver of revenge before dying, do you really think he’ll not take the opportunity?

I saw a documentary about a terrorist organization, Al-Shabaab, in Somalia.

The US targets elements of Al Shabaab from time to time.

In one U.S. airstrike, an entire family that was unconnected to al-Shabaab was killed.

Father, mother, and children. Only the daughter survived.

She now lives with her grandmother.

She’s no older than 10.

The interviewer asked who was responsible.

She answered: America.

I tell you, that’s a dangerous seed they have planted.

I hope terrorists don’t get a hold of her. I pray she finds peace in the promise of God.

Because she would make a very willing recruit.

Look at Gaza now. The number of deaths.

The destruction. And you wonder why people get radicalized?

Ask yourself—what if it were you?

Would you embrace those who killed your family?

Final note:

Islam does not endorse terrorism in any shape or form.

ISIS, al-Qaeda, al-Shabaab, and others will answer to God for the chaos and bloodshed they’ve caused.

We are human. We feel pain. We get angry. We have emotions.

But God did not ask us to judge based on emotions.

He asked us to judge by His scripture.

And nowhere in His book does He ask us to be mischief-makers or terrorists.

I pray for those who uphold justice and stay within God’s bounds. And for those who have been wronged, I pray God grants them the fortitude and forbearance to be patient and wait for His promise to come to pass.

And I pray those who spread mischief and pain on the land will never find peace or mercy from God.

Do not think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only delays them until a Day when ˹their˺ eyes will stare in horror.

(Ibrahim 14:42)

That's more than a thousand words.