Does Islamic State really have nothing to do with religion? Fathima Nazeer

[Chas]

Note that the groups are identified by religion. Just a coincidence?

Note that there's one dominant religion in the region, so it won't be a coincidence if almost every group is dominated by members of that religon. Note that the Baathists were a secular nationalist movement. Note that the Iranian president we ousted was a socialist reformer. Note that the Soviet-backed Afghani government we helped bring down was secular communist. We couldn't have arranged for fundamentalist Islamism to sweep the region better if that was our aim all along. Actually, given our record, if that had been what we were aiming for, the area would probably be much more secular now.

If so, then why identify them by religion? It's because that is the most important aspect of the whole stinking pile of dog shit. They are theocracies - religion is inextricably bound up in politics.