- The US destabalized Iraq in '03 causing a power vacuum.
- In '06 a small, shitty militant group called ISIS was formed in Iraq.
- They were unsuccessful, and then moved into Syria in 2009.
- Fast forward 4 years to 2013, and the US along with a few other countries started sending massive amounts of money, military equipment and training to the "Free Syrian Army".
- 1 year later, much of these resources were in the hands of ISIS.
- There were intelligence reports that US knew our resources would end up in the hands of ISIS, but we sent them anyways.
This allowed ISIS to become powerful, re-enter Iraq to claim territories and a lot of leftover US military equipment.
A more detailed account of the above information:
So when I get on social media and see so many espousing "#PrayforParis" hashtags, it's discouraging that so few of them truly realize that ISIS's rise to power was only made possible by the government they love so much.
US foreign policy is atrocious. So much of what we do, results in blowback. 9/11 and now Paris.