Every politician promises to destroy terrorism: from teenage hackers busting through firewalls to Islamist radicals decapitating American journalists. But as much as the American government boasts about its intolerance of terrorism, you would be shocked at how much it contributes to its existence. In fact, the US government actually created the three most notorious terrorist organizations that currently exist.

1. Islamic Extremism

Chaos-inducing regime change, perpetual warfare, and economic assault have transformed much of the region into a battleground.The only people who still deny the involvement of the US government in breeding Islamic extremism are neocons, politicians, and Lockheed Martin executives. This isn’t to imply that without the government, Islamic nations would transcend all conflict and violence. But hard to deny that the US government has directly and indirectly facilitated this violence. Chaos-inducing regime change, perpetual warfare, and economic assault have transformed much of the region into a battleground.

The most notorious Islamic terrorist organization, ISIS, began to emerge in the aftermath of the U.S. government’s intervention in Iraq (with origins that trace back even to Cold War days), and rose to conquest out of the chaos of the Syrian civil war, which the U.S. fomented. In pursuing weapons of mass destruction that turned out to be non-existent, the US government created the largest terror group facing western civilization today. The US also left behind millions of dollars worth of military equipment and even proactively supplied modern armaments to so called “rebel allies” (who are actually allies of Al Qaeda).

The resulting failure of these endeavors can be chalked up to mere unintentional incompetence if you’re feeling generous. But there are other examples of overt and intentional centrally planned malfeasance.

The coordinated overthrow of secular Arab governments in Syria and Libya -- admittedly not a bunch of sweethearts -- led to the rise of fundamentalist militias. Huge numbers of civilian deaths at the hands of aerial drone assaults have made ordinary citizens vengeful towards the west and caused them to embrace jihadi martyrdom.

Isolationist sanctions throughout the 1990s and 2000s contributed to social segregation from the rest of the world. Combining that segregation with regional poverty and strong ideological propaganda from Islamist organizations, it’s not hard to understand why groups like ISIS, Boko Haram, and the Taliban have spread so rapidly across the region.

2. Prohibition Cartels

It is prohibition that brought them into existence, especially legislation against marijuana and other drugs in America.ISIS isn’t the only radical religious terror group threatening America. Some of these groups completely disagree with Sharia and Jihad and have a deep faith in Christ and the Bible. The terror groups I’m referring to are the Mexican drug cartels: or as I like to call them, “prohibition cartels.”

I prefer the term prohibition cartel because their criminal activities aren’t limited to drug dealing. They also engage in fulfilling many voluntary services that have been banned or regulated by government, including prostitution, undocumented travel, firearm sales, etc.

But another reason I call them prohibition cartels is because it is prohibition that brought them into existence, especially legislation against marijuana and other drugs in America.

This all started with the the International Opium Convention and Uniform State Narcotic Act in 1925. Essentially, it was the free trade agreement for hemp. Ostensibly, the goal was the fair and safe trade of marijuana, but the effect was to lay the groundwork for state control of markets. America began its first war against marijuana in the 1930s with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. This law was later declared unconstitutional, but it reemerged in the 1970’s within the Controlled Substances Act, which ranked marijuana as a Schedule I narcotic: the highest possible ranking in terms of dangerousness and addiction.

To no one's surprise, 10 years later in the 1980’s, the first Mexican Drug Cartel known as the Guadalajara Cartel was founded. And the thing is, both progressive and traditionalist mindsets were complicit in this.

The ideological left praises governmental efforts to regulate and manipulate the market. The ideological right praises cultural determinism and praises the efforts of government that further ends they deem morally superior.

It makes you wonder how many lives could have been saved from drug violence, cartel disputes, imprisonment, etc. if these people had simply respected individual freedom and adopted a liberal approach to the market for narcotics. How many lives could be saved in the future if we ended state prohibition now?

3. The US Government

Surprised? Well you shouldn’t be. The most notable organization to bear responsibility for substantial worldwide suffering and misery over the last century is the United States government.

US culture and philosophy have in many ways been a wonderful gift to the world, inspiring liberation from oppression and promoting opportunity for all. The US government is another matter. With bureaucratic supremacy, militaristic impunity and economic manipulation, the US government has made itself into a global goliath that dominates the market of all things evil. Maybe I’m exaggerating, but I don’t think so.

Not only has the government facilitated the operations of both of the terrorist groups mentioned above, but it has also embarked on its own terroristic ventures.

The definition of terrorism is “the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.” When you consider that all the state does is use violence for political aims, it shouldn’t be surprising that government operations have a lot in common with terrorist organizations.

With the largest estimated prison population in the world, the highest number of laws in the world (the majority of which are direct infringements of fundamental human rights to life, liberty, and property), the largest and most well-funded government in the world, and the most interventionist foreign policy of any government entity in modern history, how could one argue that today’s overweening state is anything less than a well polished distributor of western ideological terrorism?

So next time a politician tells you their plan to combat terrorist organizations, maybe ask them why they’re working for one that contributes to much to its existence?