In recent weeks there has been a wave of violence against Muslim-Americans. Spurred by the heated rhetoric of conservative politicians, many confused people have begun to think that those who practice the Islamic faith are somehow “the enemy within” as ISIS supporters. The idea that the Muslim-Americans are or could potentially be supportive of ISIS is absurd. The overwhelming majority of ISIS victims have been Muslims deemed by the terrorists to somehow have deviated from the faith. Furthermore, the last thing that anyone with religious ideas similar to ISIS would do is relocate to the United States.

Though it is not to be found among Muslim-Americans, there is indeed an “enemy within” – that is, an entity that supports ISIS from inside the United States. This fifth column, whose members welcome and actively pursue the strengthening of ISIS, won’t be found worshipping Allah in mosques, but inside expensive Manhattan suites — worshipping their particular God: money.

The financial elites that have arisen within global capitalism have neither loyalty to the United States nor concern with stopping the spread of terrorism. As ISIS grows stronger, they are watching their profits soar.

Oil, Weapons, and Gulf-State Dictators

This may sound like a wild conspiracy theory, but the facts speak for themselves. What is the source of ISIS weaponry? ISIS, like all the other anti-government terrorist groups in Syria, has received a steady flow of weapons from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar. These countries are absolute monarchies propped up by Exxon Mobile and other powerful US oil corporations.

The support coming for ISIS from these regimes is blatant. The largest mosque in the Kingdom of Bahrain publicly displayed an ISIS flag. A large percentage of the social media activity supporting ISIS originated within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The Wall Street oil plantations also known as the “Gulf States” have been pouring weapons into Syria, as many of their poorest citizens, unemployed as a result of the oil-price drop, find their way into ISIS ranks.

Back in 2010, the United States and Saudi Arabia conducted the biggest arms deal in world history. $60.5 billion worth of weapons were purchased by the Saudi regime. Saudi Arabia now has the fourth-largest military budget of any country in the entire world. Its weapons, which continue to pour into Syria, are purchased exclusively from the United States.

Military contractors such as General Electric, Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin lobby congress very hard to keep the US on good terms with the pro-ISIS dictatorship known as the Saudi monarchy, as well as its satellites in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, another key ally of the United States and purchaser of US-made weapons, the Turkish government, has been facilitating the sale of ISIS oil, and allowing the Turkish-Syrian borders to stay open. The Syrian border with Jordan also remains open, with weapons and supplies flowing to ISIS and other anti-government fighters each day.

Demonization of Russia

In 1776, when the people of the 13 colonies fought for independence from the British Empire, Russia was on our side. In the 1860s, when Lincoln mobilized the people of the United States to smash the southern slaveocracy, Russia was on our side. In 1941, when the United States went to war against the fascist axis of Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan, Russia (as part of the Soviet Union) was on our side.

Friendship between the peoples of the United States and the peoples of the Russian Federation has deep roots. Hatred for Russia, especially with the Soviet Union and Cold War gone, does not arise naturally within the American spirit. Hatred and fear of Russia is not a longstanding cultural or ethnic divide, but something actively manufactured by the rich and powerful.

As Russia is standing with the Syrian Arab Republic and scoring real defeats against ISIS, US media is preaching hatred for and demonizing Russia. Russia is actively defeating what has been declared to be the “number one enemy” of the United States — yet the US media encourages hostility to Russia.

On US television, Vladimir Putin is called a “dictator” despite being democratically elected and loved by his people. US media promotes anti-Putin rock bands like “Pussy Riot,” whose members engage in public acts of indecency as if they are free speech martyrs. The US defends the extremist government of Ukraine as it continues to make provocative anti-Russian statements.

The US media, like weapons manufacturing corporations, is controlled by Wall Street bankers. MSNBC, as a wing of the military contractor General Electric, is de facto-controlled by Chase Bank. CNN is part of a media conglomerate called Time Warner. FOX news is owned by an Australian right-wing billionaire named Rupert Murdoch.

While the US is supposedly at war with ISIS, the Wall Street-controlled US media is actively demonizing those who are scoring real victories against them. Other countries who are actively fighting ISIS on the battlefield, such as Iran and Venezuela, are also actively demonized.

Israeli Aid to ISIS Terrorism

ISIS falsely describes itself as a group of “Islamic” militants, but its leaders have a soft spot for Israel. ISIS has proclaimed that “God has commanded us never to attack Israel,” and the primary targets of ISIS have been Israel’s enemies. ISIS wages war against the Syrian Arab Republic, which has a long record of supporting Palestinian resistance. ISIS is slaughtering the Iraqi Shia Muslims, who have made tremendous sacrifices for the Palestinian people. ISIS has declared that they eventually seek to overthrow the Islamic Republic of Iran, a country that has consistently supported the Palestinian resistance since its historic 1979 revolution.

Meanwhile, Israel is quietly helping ISIS. Israel recently carried out an airstrike in Syria. The airstrike did not target ISIS, but instead killed Samir Kantar. Samir Kantar was a well beloved leader of the Palestinian resistance, who had come to Syria with a delegation of fighters from Lebanon to fight against ISIS. The Israeli air strike targeted the apartment building in government-controlled territory where he was living. The airstrike was a brutal, symbolic attack on Lebanese forces led by Hezbollah, who are risking their lives in a foreign land to defeat the ISIS terrorists.

In the occupied Golan Heights, Israel continues to provide medical care and assistance to anti-government militants who seek to overthrow the Syrian government. Among the forces given assistance by Israel have been members of the Al-Nusra Front (previously known as “Al-Qaeda in Syria”). Evidence shows that it is highly likely that Israeli forces have also given medical care to ISIS fighters.

Despite actively supporting ISIS, Israel continues to receive billions of dollars of US aid. The Israeli government is supplied with free weapons by the US military, and the US continues to prop up Israel despite its human rights violations.

Three-Point Anti-Terrorism Plan

The response of the US government to the shootings in Paris and San Bernardino was tragic. Congress passed a law restricting entrance to the US for anyone who has ever visited the Islamic Republic of Iran. This move of hostility to Iran is outrageous, as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is each day battling against ISIS in Syria. Such a move is even more outrageous given that Iran has recently dismantled two-thirds of its peaceful nuclear energy program as part of a deal with the United States.

In the aftermath of ISIS-linked terrorist attacks, the US congress has taken action, not against ISIS, but against one of ISIS’ key enemies. Meanwhile, the pro-ISIS groupings remain strong and intact. A triangle of evil oil corporations, weapons manufacturers, and the Israeli government’s network of supporters continues to dominate US policy. This triangle of evil is actively working to prevent the defeat of the ISIS terrorists.

During the Second World War, the Wall Street stock firm Brown Brothers Harriman was actively doing business with the Nazis. In response, the Roosevelt Administration shut it down. Many very wealthy and powerful people in the US were involved with Brown Brothers Harriman. Prescott Bush, father of two US presidents, and a young Alan Greenspan were both closely tied to this powerful Wall Street firm, but this did not stop the Roosevelt Administration. The “Trading with the Enemy Act” was enforced, and this pro-Nazi house of finance was closed down until the war ended. The current situation calls for equally harsh measures.

Here is a three-point plan to defeat ISIS:

1. The oil companies that work to maintain the US alliance with the Saudi monarchy and other ISIS-linked gulf states must be immediately nationalized. Natural resources should no longer be private property, and US policy should revolve around the interests of the people, not profits for oil corporations. The ecologically dangerous practice of hydraulic fracking should cease. Alternative energy should be explored, and sanctions on oil-exporting countries like Russia, Venezuela, and Iran — who are actively fighting ISIS — should immediately be lifted. 2. The weapons manufacturers that see continued war and chaos in the Middle East as a source of profits should shut down. No one should make money from war and destruction. The manufacturing of weapons and military hardware, a necessary evil in this dangerous world, should be limited to the public sector. Corporations that profit from selling high-tech weapons to police departments or from building prisons and surveillance equipment should also be nationalized. Every effort should be taken to ensure that no one can financially benefit from a continued rise of terrorism, fear, and war. 3. The Israel lobby, which openly promotes the interests of a foreign, ISIS-supporting government, should be investigated and dismantled. It is bad enough that while hospitals, schools, post offices, and other important services are being shut down, the US continues to give billions of tax dollars to a serial human-rights violator. Now that Israel is documented to be supporting ISIS with airstrikes and medical aid, it is a matter of national security that Israel-connected lobbyists and activists not be able to influence government policy.

The defeat of ISIS is something that the people of the United States, the people of Russia, the people of China, Iran, Venezuela, and almost every other country on earth can agree on. However, US leaders have not seriously committed to this effort. The US government continues to maintain hostility to the forces actively defeating ISIS on the battlefield. These sinister policies are being actively dictated by the financial oligarchy which has no loyalty to the United States, its people, or world peace.

Like the past battles in the history of the country, such as the struggle to abolish slavery or to defeat fascism, the defeat of ISIS will require an upsurge of democratic participation. Though the people of the United States want ISIS to be defeated, a big section among the rich and powerful clearly have other intentions. Yes, ISIS is a great enemy of the US public — but this enemy has powerful friends here at home who pose an even greater, long-term danger to our democracy. The wealthy fifth column of ISIS-supporting money changers must be shut down so that the Middle East region and the entire world can move toward greater stability and peace.