On Monday, Sept. 8, the Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking hosted a lecture by Elizabethtown College’s Ambassador in Residence John B. Craig entitled “Terrorism and the Iran Revolution: ISIS in Syria.”

Craig began his lecture by discussing the Arab Spring, which occurred in 2011. He explained that what many viewed as “the beginning of a new era in the Arab world” was the direct result of years of oppression and a large, youthful population with a lack of future prospects. What was produced was an unveiling of radical fundamentalist groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

Craig explained that strong societies had not been given the chance to develop apart from dictatorial leaders due to oppression. The masses looked for new strong leaders and found only “fundamentalists who had no interest in human dignity and were incapable of creating stronger economies,” Craig stated.

Like many Arab countries, Syria has long been at the mercy of oppressive dictators. From 1971 until 2000, Hafez Al-Assad was the President of Syria. Al-Assad was a secularist, meaning he did not believe in the dominance of Islamic thought. This made him an enemy of fundamentalist groups, and he had been known to persecute and massacre members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Craig pointed out that while dictatorial leaders are undesirable, they are at least predictable. Radical groups are not.

The Syrian people fought against the oppressive regime from March until November of 2011. The Syrian government decided they would convince the population that it was fit to rule by making the Muslim Brotherhood look foolish and defeating them. The Muslim Brotherhood leaders, who were previously imprisoned, were to be set free and given three to six months to establish themselves before the Syrian government would overpower them and pose as the hero.

Syria is unique in the Middle East because it possesses a strong external protector: Iran. Syria is vital to Iran because of Lebanon.  Therefore, other countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar viewed this as a way to fight a war with Iran by proxy and poured money and weapons into radical groups. Turkey leaving its border open gave these groups a foothold and way to smuggle supplies and people into Syria.

In November 2013, the Syrian government asked Iran for help. Iran sent Hizbullah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to aid them.  At some point between January and June 2014, these fundamentalist groups metamorphosed into ISIS. Craig was very clear that the actions of ISIS, contrary to their name, had nothing to do with Islam or Islamic society. “They have completely perverted Islamic teachings,” Craig explained. “Their thoughts on women and on education are completely at odds with modern Islamic society.”

Craig has a theory that the ISIS leader Baghdadi is a figurehead, not the true brains behind the organization. “I do not believe he has the education or sophistication to play the role he’s playing,” Craig said. He believes the true leaders of ISIS are remnants of Saddam Hussein’s army. “It’s like the hand of Saddam coming out of the sand as retaliation for alienating the Sunnis,” Craig elaborated.

“If I can leave you with one thought, it would be this. Do not fall into the trap of thinking that Syria and the United States can become strange bedfellows,” Craig urged. “That can never happen. They have gone too far in the past.”