by Rachel Stoltzfoos
An Egyptian state media columnist claims the United States invented the Islamic State, and the West similarly orchestrated 9/11 in order to justify invading the Middle East.
“I don’t know who [the Americans] are fooling, us or themselves,” journalist Noha Al-Sharnoubi wrote in Al-Ahram, according to an English translation by the Middle East Research Institute. “What terror are they talking about and associating with Islam or even with extremist Muslims or people claiming to be Muslims?”
All of her assertions come in the form of rhetorical questions. “Can we believe the U.S. administration’s official version of the events of September 11, 2001?” she asks. “Is it a coincidence that the commanders of the September 11 attack trained at American flight schools? … Or was the whole thing planned [in advance] in order to justify the war on terror, the [first] episode of which[later] began in Iraq?”
“Does it make sense that most ISIS members are foreigners [i.e., Western nationals], unless ISIS is another story that was prepared in advance [by the West] to justify the devastation, partitioning and occupation [of countries] that is taking place and will continue to take place in the Middle East?” she adds.
It’s not uncommon for Egyptian media to spout such conspiracy theories in an effort to rankle the U.S.
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