AAP FACTCHECK – A former UK member of parliament claims Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda only attack countries that the US and its allies are already attacking.
This is false. There are multiple instances of terror attacks committed by these groups against Western allies, including the US itself.
George Galloway, who leads the Workers Party of Britain, made the claim in an episode of his talk show series, posted to social media on June 24 (22 minutes 30 seconds).
“ISIS and al-Qaeda only ever attack people that the United States and its allies are already attacking, have already made official enemies of the Western empire,” he said on the recording.
“Who do you think that ISIS and al-Qaeda are really working for?”
Mr Galloway made the claim following the June 23 terrorist attacks in Dagestan, Russia. No group has yet claimed responsibility, though an IS branch praised the attack.
Experts told AAP FactCheck that Mr Galloway’s claim is not true.
Dr Aaron Zelin, director of the Islamic State Worldwide Activity Map at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the claim was “patently false”, and represented a “propaganda line used from Moscow to Tehran”.
Dr Zelin said there’s very little pattern in the countries Islamic State chooses to attack, and they’re linked only by a refusal to embody the beliefs of the IS caliph.
He also highlighted an X thread of IS statements claiming responsibility for various terror attacks across the world including in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, the UK and the US.
Associate Professor Peter Henne, director of Middle East studies at the University of Vermont, also explained that al-Qaeda’s actions do not align with Mr Galloway’s claim.
He points to one of al-Qaeda’s early attacks, targeting US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
“The United States wasn’t attacking those countries,” Dr Henne states.
“Other major al-Qaeda attacks besides 9/11 were against Jordan, Indonesia, and the UK.”
“Again, none of these were US targets.”
Trisha Bacon, associate professor at the American University Policy Anti-Terrorism Hub, agreed the claim is “highly inaccurate”.
She noted that IS has attacked some US adversaries including Russia, Iran and Syria, but also US allies France and Belgium.
“Al-Qaeda has rarely attacked countries that the US is ‘already attacking’. It is in fact the opposite: it prioritises attacking the US and countries aligned with it,” Dr Bacon told AAP FactCheck.
Mr Galloway lost his seat at the UK general election in July, which he had won in a by-election earlier in 2024 running on a pro-Palestinian stance.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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