Map Shows “Four Times As Many Jihadist Militants” Around The World Than Before 9/11

A recently produced map outlines that nearly two decades after 9/11 and in the wake of the so-called “war on terror” global militant jihadists are stronger than ever in terms of numbers. 

It’s yet more confirmation that American interventionism abroad has actually done more to fuel Islamic terrorism than it has to stamp it out — Libya and Syria being foremost recent examples of Washington fueling jihad for half-baked, destabilizing regime change projects, to say nothing of Bush’s Iraq war, which CIA officers themselves have admitted birthed ISIS in the first place.  

The map published by the DC-based Center For Strategic and International Studies lays out just how expanded the global Salafi-Jihadist terrorism threat has become over the past few years. 

There are nearly four times as many Salafi-Jihadist militants around the world today than before 9/11: https://t.co/0B8TleXYrf pic.twitter.com/1L378hIbdD

— CSIS (@CSIS) September 28, 2019

“Despite nearly two decades of U.S.-led counterterrorism operations, there are nearly four times as many Sunni Islamic militants today as there were on September 11, 2001,” the prior CSIS study found. 

By the numbers, they include—

Syria: largest number of fighters at between 43,650 and 70,550 (most now in Idlib province)

Afghanistan: between 27,000 and 64,060 and increasingly resurgent 

Pakistan: between 17,900 and 39,540

Iraq: between 10,000 and 15,000

Nigeria: between 3,450 and 6,900

Somolia: between 3,095 and 7,240

Of course, it remains that many of the very think tanks highlighting the expanded jihadist threat use such numbers to argue, ironically enough, simply doing more of the same anytime there’s a push from the administration to “bring the troops home”. 

The establishment professional “analyst” class often cite ever-increasing global terrorism numbers in order to keep the failed ‘Global War On Terror” narrative alive — in part because keeps US defense budgets inflated, which also trickles down into the think tank and private sector. 

The CSIS Map: There are nearly four times as many Salafi-Jihadist militants around the world today than before 9/11. (Click for larger view.)

And yet it remains that as American troop presence in the Middle East and North Africa grows, so do the jihadists’ numbers, underscoring what former Congressman Ron Paul has long described as the ‘blowback’ of US imperialism and nation-building.