Quote:
Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler
Did they? It seems this all stems from Afghanistan and Americans/Pakistanis stirring up opposition to the Soviets. They loined the zealots to fight the godless Communists and then the Soviets left and the bearded fellows had nothing to do... Nasser/Sadat, Assad Sr. and Saddam had been in power for many decades without much ado...
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I agree with this. There is obviously going to be a large amount of discontent in dictatorships but these groups only seem to thrive in areas that are completely lawless.
All of the funding, training, and leadership of these groups happens to take place in places like Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, etc.
Any power vacuum is a beacon for these zealots and it's these locales that allow these groups to gain fame, followers and funding.
Someone trying to start up a group such as this in Saddam's country would have had insurmountable obstacles.
Starting up a group in Afghanistan for instance gives them a platform to have success on the ground which gives them legitimacy in the eyes of those who would be likely to join such a group and an easy path for those wishing to follow.