The military forces in most of the Muslim lands think that their top priority is to protect the citizens from its politicians and not to protect the country from its enemy for which they were hired. The Military thinks itself to be an elite class that deserves all the perks, supported by major portion of the national economy, and whatever is left, should be used for the rest of the country. The military tries its best that politicians do not succeed and undermines the democratic process and its institutions by all means necessary. Unfortunately the politicians of Muslim countries are also corrupt, but their corruption is a fraction of what military corruption takes away from the national economy.  

Military dictators suited us, USA and the West, well for decades and we supported them with all means at the expense of oppression of masses. The current unravelling and violent extremism is part of that legacy. In the panic of current chaos, we are trying to go back to old days and old ways which created the current mess in the first place. We supported the return of military dictator General Sissi in Egypt and now we were hoping against hope that military coup will succeed in Turkey. Mr. Roger Cohen writes in NYT,    

“Jonathan Eyal, the international director at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute, told me. There can be little doubt the expressions of support for Erdogan from western capitals came through gritted teeth”

This is a self-defeating strategy. We should support democratic forces and process in all its forms in these countries and should not choose and impose winners of our liking in these countries, because it will not only infuriate the general masses in Muslim countries but also give opportunities to violent extremist elements to exploit the situation for their own evil designs. The democratic process should continue, no matter how messy, and we should not support military dictators in any form.  

In old days whatever cruelty happened in Muslim lands due to oppressive dictators, stayed in those lands, now its repercussions will spill over in the rest of the world, especially in the west-and may be in most violent extremist ways.