This week’s attack in Nice, France, left scores dead and injured. Regardless of
whether or not the perpetrator acted alone, the Islamic State is likely to take
credit. “In the West, deadly attacks in Paris, Brussels, Orlando, and elsewhere
are bringing
the Islamic State’s goal of a divided worldcloser to fruition,” writes
Murtaza Hussain. ISIS’s strategy has long been to eliminate the
“gray zone” of religious coexistence by supporting attacks that create
a backlash by authorities, which in turn creates more supporters for the group’s
cause.
On a larger scale, the U.S. has been laying the groundwork for this global divide,
training some
200,000 foreign security forces every year in dozens of countries, according
to an investigation by The Intercept and 100Reporters.
With little oversight or accountability, the U.S. training network is, as one former
White House official described it, a “headless system.”