In 2004, well before ISIS existed, Slavoj Zizek said the following:
“The danger, following the logic of a self-fulfilling prophecy, is that this very American intervention [in Iraq] will contribute to the emergence of what America fears most: a large, united anti-American Muslim front. This is the first case of a direct American occupation of a large and key Arab country–how could it not generate universal hatred in reaction? One can already imagine thousands of young people dreaming of becoming suicide bombers…What might indeed emerge as the result of the US occupation [of Iraq] is precisely a truly fundamentalist Muslim anti-American movement, directly linked to such movements in other Arab countries or countries with a Muslim presence–in other words, a Muslim ‘International’. And the first signs are already discernible…It is as if…some invisible hand of destiny arranges it so that the short-term success of the US intervention strengthens the very cause against which the USA intervened.” – Slavoj Zizek, Iraq: The Borrowed Kettle, 18-19.
