Generals foresaw the emergence of Isis.
Generals foresaw the emergence of Isis.
Soooo..... My favourite game probably ever is Command and Conquer: Generals. Its a great game, 2003, and its only expansion is 2004. Its 20 bucks for the C&C collection of 19 games on origin. But that's not important. What IS important is that I Have literally grown up playing that game. Since it came out when I was three, I have owned it, and played it A LOT. Even through the struggles, working out how to make a 12 year old game with a crappy netcode work on windows 10 is absolute hell, but I got it, and it was worth it. I know the entire thing by heart, and I have a lot of strong childhood memories tied into it. BACK ON TOPIC. The basic plotline, is that in 2013, a terrorist leader was assassinated. His name was Dr. Thrax, and he was the supreme leader of the arab terrorists. When he died, there was a power scuffle, and the resulting terror force was called the GLA (Global Liberation Army). The GLA proceeded to fight in Syria, Egypt, Somalia, Iran, Kazakhstan, and a few other middle eastern countries, before setting its sights on Europe. It invades Europe, and Europe is unable to deal with the threat, so they basically pretend its all k, while the US provides ineffectual fire-support. Simultaneously, the GLA invade parts of china, and bomb a parade with a nuke. Then China goes to town and annihilates the GLA with incredible power. The end result, is that the US basically fails to protect Europe, Europe is almost razed, and China swoops in and saves the day. Forgive my lengthy explanation, but there are more than a few real life similarities. First, look at Bin Laden. IDC if you think he is really gone, or just hiding. The fact is, Osama Bin Laden was a kingpin, who held all the terror factions together. He was assassinated, and all of the sudden, there was a power vacuum. Isis emerged from the vacuum. Just like the GLA after Thrax was killed. Then the GLA invade Europe and do a huge amount of damage with terrorism. Just like the refugee crisis. Once again, it really doesn't matter what your opinion of the refugee crisis is, or how you politically align. There is no denying Charlie Hebdo, the theater hostage situation, Nice, Brussels, the catholic mass incidents, the list goes on. There are some terrorists doing dome bad things. Just like a 2003 game by EA predicted. Then the US pulled all their forces out of the middle east. Just like in Generals. Then Isis attacked China. Which happened IRL, when a chinese embassy was bombed and Isis took responsibility. Then the GLA gained bio-weapons, but not any bio-weapons, they had SCUD missiles. Incidentally, Isis has a supply of SCUD missiles, and flaunts them on twitter. Then the US failes to back Europe. Just like in Generals, which also semi-accurately predicted the attack on a US-supplied airfield by GLA (Isis) supported militants. Generals also predicted, this one is reach just a bit, Iran getting hold of WMD missiles, or in real life, Iran getting hold of nuclear materials, which they are at this moment spinning into uranium 235. I hope someone appreciates this as much as I do. So many coincidences in one game, that all accurately predict the rise of Isis to power, blows my mind. I have grown up with this game, which is probably why its so remarkable to me, that almost 13 years after it's release, it predicts so much about the current events. If any of you have played C&C generals and have thought of any other similarities, please share. And give your thoughts.
A major issue with this chain of events is that when Osama was held accountable, he wasn’t leading any significant role within al-Qaeda. He had been active for a long time and was under intense surveillance, so most local figures had already assumed control. Additionally, the current form of ISIS did not originate from al-Qaeda; in fact, AQ has publicly criticized them for their extreme actions and the resulting conflict in the Middle East. However, ISIS later aligned with Al-Qaeda in Iraq around 2006 and then expanded independently. Before Osama’s death, AQ was largely sidelined, while ISIS had already begun its own operations. Also, many people consider these individuals to be migrants rather than refugees, changing their status when moving across borders for better opportunities. It’s interesting how some patterns seem to repeat, though it’s hard to say if this is coincidence or part of a larger cycle.
I believe you're mixing up Al Qaeda and ISIS. Bin Laden had no connection with ISIS, and the group doesn't have a strong presence in Afghanistan. ISIS gained power partly because Tony Blair believed it would be wise to oust Assad without planning a smooth transition. Sometimes keeping an authoritarian leader in charge is preferable to trying to build a democratic system.
He wasn't connected to Isis since the group didn't exist at that time. Once he was killed, Isis emerged from the resulting power gap, much like the GLA did in the Generals timeline.
ISIS emerged in Syria following the ousting of General Assad. It is abbreviated as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Bin Laden refers to Al Qaeda; ISIS has no significant presence in Afghanistan since AQ already governs there. The group operates in Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, and Libya.
Isis continued in its current form due to decentralized power structures. Al Qaeda wasn’t the origin of Isis, I concur. It also stopped other major coalitions from uniting. They acted like the dominant group in a classroom, blocking expansion by smaller factions. The focus isn’t on how Isis came to be, but rather on how closely this narrative matches the story crafted in a game released ten years prior.
The group behind Isis existed long before these events, emerging around 2006. It initially struggled against stronger organizations and limited US military presence in the Middle East. Al-Qaeda's decline played a minor role compared to the Syrian revolution and the withdrawal of most US troops from the region.
However, the emergence of ISIS was unrelated to al-Qaeda's decline in prominence. Pay attention to the phrase "spotlight"—this refers to a fact that al-Qaeda had been weakened long before Osama bin Laden's passing, and his death only caused minor disruption rather than a major shift.