Perennially, and also in the United States, people from all over the world experience the celebrations and excitement at the beginning of a new year.
Unfortunately, the scene in New Orleans, Louisiana, was much different in the early hours of January 1, 2025. And while investigators continue to examine what led an American citizen to seek the deaths of as many people as possible, it cannot be ignore an uncomfortable reality: America’s history of trying to influence long-running crises around the world, and especially in the Middle East, continues to have implications at home.
According to the FBI, a U.S. citizen and Army veteran living in Texas, responsible for killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 30, had an ISIS flag on the truck he used to run over his victims.
When former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown last month, ISIS was seen as one of the losing groups. ISIS was one of the militias seeking to end the al-Assad regime and was determined to see the country adopt Islamic fundamentalism. Of course, for more than a decade, the United States attempted to undermine ISIS in the parts of the world where it was active. In 2014, then-US Secretary of State John Kerry wrote: “No decent country can support the horrors perpetrated by ISIS, and no civilized country should shirk its responsibility to help eradicate this disease.”
We will return to the topic of Iran and the US later, but for now, let’s keep in mind that no matter how hard Washington and its coalition partners tried, they failed to eliminate ISIS. In fact, U.S. officials know that ISIS remains a legitimate threat in the Middle East and Africa. In March of last year, Ian McCary, deputy special envoy for the global coalition to defeat ISIS, spoke in Washington, DC. He said: “We have a clear view of the continuing threat that ISIS continues to pose and we remain deeply committed to this effort (to combat it).” Although McCary did not specifically link ISIS to threats against the US, that reality cannot be ruled out. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of the United States Central Command, stated in 2024 that ISIS “maintains the ability and willingness to attack American and Western interests abroad within six months or less, without warning.”
Meanwhile, it is no exaggeration to say that Iran will project its contempt toward the US, which in recent years has also sought to neutralize Hezbollah. Relations between the United States and Iran have been contentious for decades, since Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran and the monarchical government of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was replaced in 1979. Since then, the US has maintained economic sanctions against Iran that have generated a devastating humanitarian crisis. Research conducted by the University of Münster in Germany and the Shefa Neuroscience Center in Iran on the crisis noted: “The impact is felt by more than six million patients suffering from complex diseases such as hemophilia, multiple sclerosis, thalassemia, epilepsy and various immunological disorders, as well as kidney transplant and dialysis patients and those receiving cancer treatment.
Since the investigation into what happened in Louisiana is still in its early stages, investigators do not know if the man accused of carrying out the attacks had direct ties to ISIS or was just sympathetic to the organization and its goals. Regardless, he had an ISIS flag with him, meaning that, at the very least, he acted on behalf of ISIS.
More details will emerge about what led up to the act of domestic terrorism that occurred in Louisiana in the early hours of January 1. Eventually, an explanation for why he was carrying an ISIS flag could be discovered. But whatever the reason, the outrage that many people around the world feel about the United States’ actions in the Middle East and elsewhere requires a serious nationwide conversation.
Note: this is an article republished from the media “CGTN” through a cooperation agreement between both parties for the dissemination of journalistic content. original link.
Anthony Moretti is an associate professor in the Department of Communication and Organizational Leadership at Robert Morris University.
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