What if ISIS was Created by the U.S. Government?

This article originally appeared on The Sovereign Investor on September 30th.

It’s a universal truth that government will do anything to maintain its power. Some of what it does is good. Some is bad. Some … is nefarious.

It’s the nefarious actions that happen in the shadows of the world, hidden from the general public, and thereby give rise to conspiracy theories. Because we don’t see these actions play out, brushing off conspiracy theories as meaningless, stupid or illogical is easy.

But that doesn’t mean every theory is wrong.

There is one such conspiracy theory playing out right now before our very eyes. Is it true? As with all such theories, it’s impossible to say. But through the lens of an open mind, a certain plausibility does emerge.

And if it is true … then you should be prepared for potential upheaval like we haven’t seen in decades.

The notion first struck my mind that ISIS might be a fabrication of the powers-that-be when I was in Panama City, and a man confronted me with a rather large bone to pick.

I’d just stepped off stage after giving my keynote presentation at our Total Wealth Symposium earlier this September. I’d told the 400 or so people in the crowd why I worry that wealth confiscation is in America’s near-term future.

But this man told me I was missing a much more sinister plot.

“All that stuff you’re talking about,” he started. “That’s nothing. You’re missing a much bigger picture that will change our country.”

First, I should tell you this man is retired U.S. Air Force. An officer. He flew numerous combat missions and worked at a level I won’t divulge for his own privacy … but suffice it to say he was flying missions at the highest levels for America. He remains plugged into the military at extremely high levels. And what he told me initially struck me as pure conspiracy …

“You need to know — and you need to tell these people — that America is behind ISIS. We’re funding them,” he said, clearly angry and frustrated at the direction the America he once knew has begun to drift.

Like I said, pure conspiracy theory.

And then two days later I read a New York Times dispatch from Baghdad reporting that many people across the Middle East — including those high up in the U.S.-backed Iraqi government — are absolutely certain that our own C.I.A. is the money and the muscle behind the ISIS militant group.

And so I pondered this set of coincidences for a bit. Is it just conspiracy theory? Or might there be some secret truth behind all this?

A History of Covert Meddling

For starters, let’s agree that the U.S. government is not innocent.

Our government has a history of meddling covertly in the affairs of sovereign nations — always to achieve some ulterior American aim … and always with consequences we might not necessarily want or expect. Our backing of Iran’s shah is the reason Iran is so militant today. We have played black-op games in Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador, Greece, Angola, Pakistan, Cambodia … even Australia. Our invasions and warfare in Iraq have led to instability that is destroying that country.

And now comes ISIS — an insane collection of Islamic lunatics who believe an oppressive and violent caliphate should once again rule the Muslim world.

Why would America have any interest in backing such murderous thuggery? What ulterior motive would it serve?

America needs an enemy.

Our government thrives on warfare; always has.  War keeps America relevant globally … and it gives government the cover it needs to curtail liberties and freedoms here at home. It gives government reason to rally the citizenry as the long-term health of the nation deteriorates.

If there’s a credible terrorist threat, America gets to maintain her costly war footing. She gets to deploy troops around the world. She gets to define the global agenda and spend crazy sums of money on armaments, which is one way of propping up an economy weighed down by too much debt. She gets to impose her wishes on the world under the guise of protecting the world from evil … even if it is an evil she created just so she could tear it down.

It’s no different than a firefighter moonlighting as an arsonist. He wants to feel relevant and to justify his job.

For America, maybe there’s an even deeper motive…

The Hidden Benefit of High-Priced Oil

A lot of commentators fawn these days over America’s sudden abundance of oil, thanks to the fracking of shale that has unlocked vast quantities of crude beneath our land.

At the same time, a lot of us frown these days over America’s monolithic and ultimately un-repayable debts.

Imagine the benefit to America’s finances from a huge spike in oil prices that generates a substantially larger royalty stream flowing into the Treasury Department. And imagine if the federal government was to raise the royalty rate that oil companies must pay to the country, which the government has been exploring?

Instead of nearly $11 billion a year flowing into the Treasury’s coffers, as it did last year, Treasury might see royalties that are double or triple that … maybe four or five times that number. Who knows?

But what would certainly get us moving in that direction are events in the Middle East that saw ISIS take control of substantial oil assets in southern Iraq … or events that saw upheaval in Saudi Arabia, the world’s most important oil supplier.

The Saudis, you should know, are now involved, at America’s request/urging, in bombing ISIS positions in Syria.

You also should know that the Saudis fashion themselves the protectors of Sunni Islam, though it’s a particularly oppressive, evangelical form of extreme Sunni’ism called Salafism, unrelenting in its desire to impose its unyielding strictures on moderate Islam. Oddly, ISIS is a Salafist sect, too. Same with al-Qaeda … and Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Shabaab in Somalia and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan — and others.

You should know, as well, that the Saudi government is exceedingly oppressive at home and maintains domestic peace through a heavy hand and heavy social spending. America’s intelligence community recognizes that because of this, there is an existential threat to the Saudi government’s continued existence … and it recognizes that the Saudi kingdom, either through government or business or individuals, is the pocketbook behind a lot of the Salafism violence that exists in the world.

So strange that America’s (supposed) friend is the ATM to many of the world’s terrorist organizations. Stranger still is that we know this and, overtly at least, do little about it.

But how convenient would it be for America to covertly foment strife among Salafist Sunnis? It might ultimately destabilize Saudi Arabia and send oil prices roaring higher, to the great benefit of the American government, though like the 1970s oil embargo it would certainly hurt the American consumer in the short run. It would also give America the political and military cover it needs to wedge itself deeper into the Middle East under the premise that it must render aide to a friendly government, the Saudis.

And in the end, America’s own band of lunatic extremists — the militant neoconservatives — will have accomplished their goal of remaking yet another piece of the Middle East in what they perceive as a more favorable fashion.

Like I said, probably just conspiracy theory.

Then again, Iran-Contra, C.I.A drug running and the U.S. government’s systemic cyber-spying on citizens and foreign leaders was once conspiracy theory too.

Until next time, stay Sovereign…

Jeff D. Opdyke
Editor, Profit Seeker

Follow us on Twitter @SovereignInvest