A story at the Washington Post suggests U.S. forces might have a rocky relationship with a broad swath of the Iraqi populace, because a disturbing number of them believe the United States secretly supports ISIS. As the report notes, this belief is widespread across the iraq.

The Post reports this theory is “widely believed” among Iraqis, for “a variety of pernicious reasons that have to do with asserting U.S. control over Iraq, the wider Middle East and, perhaps, its oil.”

Some specific reasons for this belief are cited, particularly videos that show American helicopters dropping weapons to ISIS militants, and a video hosted by a prominent lawmaker who shows off a stash of U.S. military rations supposedly seized from an ISIS base.

There also seems to be a general sense that the ISIS could not be holding out so well against U.S. efforts unless the fix was in.

Even Iraqi government officials who push back against the “America supports ISIS” meme are quoted complaining that the weak response from the Obama Administration makes their task more difficult.

“It’s because America is so slow that most people believe they are supporting Daesh,” an Iraqi Ministry of Defense spokesman sighed.

Mustafa Alani of the “Gulf Research Center” rendered a similar judgment:

Mosul was lost and the Americans did nothing. Syria was lost and the Americans did nothing. Paris is attacked and the Americans aren’t doing much. So people believe this is a deliberate policy. They can’t believe the American leadership fails to understand the developments in the region, and so the only other explanation is that this is part of a conspiracy.

One Shiite militia commander said the ISIS was “weak” and “almost finished,” asserting that his forces could defeat them quickly “if only America would stop supporting them.” This commander has a friend who says to have seen American helicopters dropping off bottled water to ISIS fighters.

According to Washington Post “Iran is making real progress at pushing for control of Iraq through those Shiite militias, whose prestige has been enhanced by their battlefield success against the ISIS”..

At the end, the story suggest that by Iraqis disagreement for sending US special troops to the country, if the Obama Administration relents and cancels the plan, that belief of “America is helping ISIS” will grow stronger.