Something I don’t understand is every time there’s a new atrocity the victim’s country mounts an attack on ISIS targets. If everyone already knows where these targets are, why do they do it the day after someone is burned alive or beheaded? What are they waiting for?
Popular support.
Yes.
There’s your problem right there. Back away from the computer Klaatu. 
Yes. Syria likes to have ISIS around so that they can point to a Big Bad. Sunni Iraqis see them as a protector against an oppressive Shiite central authority. Other bordering countries follow their parochial interests (fair enough, actually).
I actually disagree with this if by “Bigger” you mean “Take over a lot more territory”. While I can see further gains in Syria, they’re going to find it a lot harder to conquer areas that are majority Kurd or Shiite. And ISIS is too smart to attack functioning states like Turkey, Iran or Israel. Most of the low hanging fruit has been plucked.
Consolidate their gains though? Sure. ISIS will be very difficult to defeat in Iraq as long as they have a base in Syria and visa versa.
I disagree with the thread title though. ISIS does not pose an existential risk to the US. I do think they need to be countered though. So far the Kurds have taken back 100+ Syrian villages from ISIS, backed by US coalition airstrikes.
Kimon Valaskakis argues: The numbers don’t add up. ISIS videotapes an execution of a Jordanian pilot. Jordan responds by… rejoining participation in airstrikes along with UAE. Meanwhile the vids recruit 1000 irregulars per month. That’s 12,000 per year. Impressive, but hardly a juggernaut. Cannon fodder is more like it. Opinion: ISIS's strategy remains seriously flawed | Montreal Gazette
I agree that ISIS should be dealt with but I dont see why the US has to put its people on the line. Why cant the middle east clean up its own messes. ISIS has made enemies out of Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, and many others so why cant they deal with it themselves?
I believe everyone wants to end that war. However, how they will end is still a question.
I too question whether ISIS is really America’s problem first. At some point they threaten our interests, sure, and if you want to make a global history horror story out of it, what if they could conquer Saudi Arabia and Iran, and Israel? But I don’t think they can.
Well, the regular Iraqi military already showed last summer that they couldn’t fight their way out of a paper bag. The army (mostly raw recruits) cut and ran at the first chance they got when confronted with the Daesh fanatics.
The Kurds have shown much more mettle and they have been able to stop the Daesh advance, and even roll them back. But their numbers are limited.
I would think that what the countries directly affected would need is serious training and weapons – with the proper instruction to use them, that is.
Maybe not “boots on the ground”, but I think that US (and by extension western) deep involvement will be unavoidable, if only because of the need to actually equip and train the local armies so they can fight properly. That will likely imply the physical presence of US and western military advisors/units.
As the preeminent member of the international community, it’s our duty to chip in. It’s in our interest not to have a huge cross-border Middle Eastern war. Europe has responsibilities as well.
But yeah, we shouldn’t be and we can’t be supercop or the Roman legion. It’s entirely appropriate and in the national interest to risk US servicemen while providing air support to the Kurds. But at the end of the day, it’s their battle not ours. We can cajole and even assist. But unlike John McCain I don’t think it’s possible, prudent or even ethical to attempt to dictate events.
The US wins wars when it engages within coalitions. It loses them when it tries to go it alone, small nation stomping excepted.
Unfortunately, I tuned in to the uncut video-- didn’t watch the whole thing, but the thing that’s over the top, fuck you Western World shit is the fact they have an elaborate film logo at the beginning. Just like Lionsgate or Weinstein. Seriously! It’s ann animated, shimmering teardrop that turns into the ISIS logo (with SFX) and the name Alhayat Media Center. WTF??
I laughed out loud with your Saturday Morning cartoon analysis. Don’t get me wrong, I agree. They almost remind me of all the useless cohorts and wannabes in the “crew” of a Bond villain, a Beverly hills Cop villain, etc. But as you say, they are fucking real and beyond frightening.
The recruitment bullshit astounds me. I remember being rebellious and 18. I don’t think I’d ever think about sneaking away to a country to join an army just to stick it to the man, or because I was pissed I’m turning 22 and not a millionaire yet. What is the premise they hook these young people on? Freedom? Liberty? How? In any case, I think each country should offer to take back those who joined ISIS-- for life in prison. It’s treason. And a vow to attack your own country, and all other countries who don’t welcome the bloodbath.
But I am absolutely lost in all this. Can someone tell me:
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Where the fuck does all this money come from? Al-Bagdadhi isn’t rich, or at least born that way, but it seems like these fucknuts have 10 times the artillery that al-Quaeda has/had. Is this filtered through Taliban, government?
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Who in the living hell is Jihad John or Jihadist John-- the well-spoken brit showcased in many of the execution videos? Some ex-pat like him has a bigger trail to leave than others in this kind of mess, right?
I think in some cases the prospect of being “awarded” women for one’s valor, women that the man in question has absolute control over, women who are slaves for domestic needs (cooking, cleaning, etc.) and sex (no explanation needed) does have an appeal for some people.
Why women to over to these nutjobs I can’t fathom.
I think quite a bit is good, old-fashioned looting. Kill the men and larger boys, take/rape the women (kill the uppity ones), and take their stuff. The territory ISIS has conquered had banks, private funds, caches of weapons (they’ve overrun military bases), and so forth that ISIS has systematically looted and made use of.
Why does he have to be anyone special? He could be a nothing-nobody back in his country of origin who emigrated and, because he speaks good English as well as understanding what the leaders of this gang of barbarians speak, wound up in the job of narrator.
All right, all right, quit nagging me . . .
Selling oil on the black market, ransoms paid by rich governments to get their citizens back (yes, you Italy, Spain, France…), robbing banks (that’s where the money is), and early on (at least, even if maybe not now) they were getting funds from wealthy Sunni Arabs in other countries-- folks who don’t like a Shiite government in Syria or Iraq.
I say we advertise orange jumpsuits at ridiculously cut rate prices on Amazon. Then we slip in booby traps when we ship them.
The US got rid of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban (sort of).
1,000 or so years ago the nations of
Europe put aside their differences and fought the Mongol hordes. I think its time the nations of the middle east, including Isreal, need to deal with this.
Pakistangave material support to the Taliban in the 1990s.
Why do you want the hostages to suffer more? They’re the ones wearing the jumpsuits aren’t they?
Personally ISIS remind me of the Khmer Rouge, a fringe radical group feasting on the chaos caused by the breakdown of normal state institutions. Maybe we could ask the Vietnamese to go round and sort them out.
Or something like this.
I think that’s a great analogy, and agree, the end of this will be a powerful neighboring state that gets fed up and lays wood on them while the regional ambitions of the other power brokers get put on hold as real politik sits behind the greater good.
No, silly. They blow up when the IS guy opens the box.
In fact, I’ll bet our spy satellites are set to be on the lookout for the slightest trace of orange all over that part of the world. Not a good idea to be a Tennessee Vols fan over there.