Posted on 02/16/2015 10:22:09 PM PST by SMCC1
"What is the Islamic State?
Where did it come from, and what are its intentions? The simplicity of these questions can be deceiving, and few Western leaders seem to know the answers. In December, The New York Times published confidential comments by Major General Michael K. Nagata, the Special Operations commander for the United States in the Middle East, admitting that he had hardly begun figuring out the Islamic State’s appeal. “We have not defeated the idea,” he said. “We do not even understand the idea.” In the past year, President Obama has referred to the Islamic State, variously, as “not Islamic” and as al-Qaeda’s “jayvee team,” statements that reflected confusion about the group, and may have contributed to significant strategic errors."
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Nice post. That looks to be well worth reading carefully. Bookmarked.
NUKE ISIS
Thanks for posting this, I understand it’s an important piece. Ace of Spades gave it not on, but two posts, said it was the most important piece of US Journalism in 10 years (or something like that, too lazy to check).
I’ll read it tomorrow, I have to sleep tonight!
With an enemy like ISIS, I feel safer with a well-armed citizenry.
Just a bunch of random people who like to go around killing other random people for reasons nobody understands.
The article is good. And left me with the impression that tactical nukes would be a fine choice. At least B-52 carpet bombing of the relatively small areas they fully control. There’s an interesting map in the story.
the map screams for B-52s
Well done.
Excellent depth and width.
all we know at this point is that white people and Christians of the middle ages are at some fault
/s
I saw supposed footage of both B-52 and B-1’s over Syria/Iraq broadcast on CNN the other day . I was elated ! But then someone pointed out that CNN might be inclined to use ‘file footage’ rather than current . The clear implication was that the B-52 shown flying over was there NOW
I haven’t read the article yet, but my answer would be:
1) ISIS is what Obama was put into office by the Muslim Brotherhood to enable, fund, arm, and protect;
2) They want to saw the head off every Jew and every Christian.
But, granted that there are some interesting details in the article, very little of what it says in general is any surprise whatsoever, to any one who has been watching at all, as ISIS has come onto the scene.
That we have so many "leaders" who seem unaware of what ISIS is, or reject that reality for one reason or another, is scary indeed. It's also troubling that we have so many people, even here at FR, who think a threat like this can be ignored, or left to the Muslims to fight it out. I see no sign that "modern" Islam (ie., King Abdullah, Pres. Sisi, etc., can exterminate ISIS on their own. That failure will lead to many dead US civilians. But, similarly, unless the West plans to nuke all Muslim lands, I also do not think the West can do it without some help from "liberal" Muslims.
I suggest any and all who read this article forward it to as many people as possible.
Bookmarked.
“which means following the prophecy and example of Muhammad, in punctilious detail.”
If that’s their plan that leaves the rest of the world no other options except for complete enililation of Isis.
I think obamas state dept rep just said that poverty is the problem which tells me they are setting the stage for funding Isis and will call it “aid”
The rise of ISIS, after all, happened only because our previous occupation created space for Zarqawi and his followers.
No.... Zarqawi and his followers were already inside of Iraq both in the north near Iran's border, and in Baghdad before our invasion. They had all the space they wanted.
This was due most likely to al Dhouri who began pushing Islamic endtime mythology in Saddam's regime as Saddam courted islamist allies to use as proxies after OBL's fatwa in the late 90s. The regime used Zarqawi and Krekar's groups to assassinate Kurdish leaders before 9/11. After we hit Afghanistan in 2001 more of his people fled to Iran and then into Iraq to join Zarqawi.
Well, if they want to fight the apocalyptic battle at Dabiq and Dabiq is just a “farm field” why not lure them there and apply a liberal dose of air fuel explosives? Sounds like as good a spot as any with little collateral damage to worry about.
The time for euphemism and evasion has well passed. Even the archliberal Atlantic is now offering clarity.
Our ignorance of the Islamic State is in some ways understandable: It is a hermit kingdom; few have gone there and returned. Baghdadi has spoken on camera only once. But his address, and the Islamic State's countless other propaganda videos and encyclicals, are online, and the caliphate's supporters have toiled mightily to make their project knowable. We can gather that their state rejects peace as a matter of principle; that it hungers for genocide; that its religious views make it constitutionally incapable of certain types of change, even if that change might ensure its survival; and that it considers itself a harbinger of--and headline player in--the imminent end of the world.
The actual Biblical apocalypse, they mean. Not only are they eager fans of the apocalypse-- they hope to be the horsemen of the apocalypse.
The Islamic State, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), follows a distinctive variety of Islam whose beliefs about the path to the Day of Judgment matter to its strategy, and can help the West know its enemy and predict its behavior. Its rise to power is less like the triumph of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt (a group whose leaders the Islamic State considers apostates) than like the realization of a dystopian alternate reality in which David Koresh or Jim Jones survived to wield absolute power over not just a few hundred people, but some 8 million.
We have misunderstood the nature of the Islamic State in at least two ways....
We are misled in a second way, by a well-intentioned but dishonest campaign to deny the Islamic State's medieval religious nature....
The most-articulate spokesmen for that position are the Islamic State's officials and supporters themselves. They refer derisively to "moderns." In conversation, they insist that they will not--cannot--waver from governing precepts that were embedded in Islam by the Prophet Muhammad and his earliest followers. They often speak in codes and allusions that sound odd or old-fashioned to non-Muslims, but refer to specific traditions and texts of early Islam....
The reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic. Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn largely from the disaffected populations of the Middle East and Europe. But the religion preached by its most ardent followers derives from coherent and even learned interpretations of Islam.
Virtually every major decision and law promulgated by the Islamic State adheres to what it calls, in its press and pronouncements, and on its billboards, license plates, stationery, and coins, "the Prophetic methodology," which means following the prophecy and example of Muhammad, in punctilious detail. Muslims can reject the Islamic State; nearly all do. But pretending that it isn't actually a religious, millenarian group, with theology that must be understood to be combatted, has already led the United States to underestimate it and back foolish schemes to counter it.
Long piece, and very good. Thanks to @bfwebster.
Meanwhile, our pathetically decadent and cowardly media proclaims the past week to have been a hellish one for the reputation of not Islam but religion generally.
The one grotesquerie they cite that isn't Islamist in origin is the shooting of the three Islamic students in Chapel Hill over a parking space. But even CNN confesses that the shooter there was a militant atheist.
How is this a bad week for religion, CNN? Seems it's a bad week for Islamists, or rather, those unfortunate to live within murdering distance of Islamists.
Meanwhile, our White House, which essentially now serves as a Public Relations firm for murderous, fascist Islamism --constantly spinning on Al Qaeda's or IS' behalf, telling us that what they've done isn't so bad (in the scheme of things) and reminding us "But the Crusades" -- declares that the Coptic Christians beheaded by IS were selected... randomly, I guess.
The United States condemns the despicable and cowardly murder of twenty-one Egyptian citizens in Libya by ISIL-affiliated terrorists. We offer our condolences to the families of the victims and our support to the Egyptian government and people as they grieve for their fellow citizens. ISIL's barbarity knows no bounds. It is unconstrained by faith, sect, or ethnicity. This wanton killing of innocents is just the most recent of the many vicious acts perpetrated by ISIL-affiliated terrorists against the people of the region, including the murders of dozens of Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai, which only further galvanizes the international community to unite against ISIL.
This heinous act once again underscores the urgent need for a political resolution to the conflict in Libya, the continuation of which only benefits terrorist groups, including ISIL. We call on all Libyans to strongly reject this and all acts of terrorism and to unite in the face of this shared and growing threat. We continue to strongly support the efforts of the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General Bernardino Leon to facilitate formation of a national unity government and help foster a political solution in Libya.
Note that when the President urges "political solutions" to the problem of IS, he means specifically that the people being slaughtered and sold into rape slavery by IS aren't doing a good enough job welcoming IS in the "peace process" or offering enough power-sharing with these psychopathic rapists.
Also note that, consistent with the President's worldview, which is radical, leftwing, and sympathetic to third-world revolutionary and terrorist movements, no people but third-worlders and non-Christians can have the exalted title of "Victim," so once again the victims of Islamist terrorism are not identified by the faith that got them murdered.
Don,t worry. Obama and his white house advisors won,t read
It. They will be reading
Golf digest
one of the keys is to kill al Baghdadi
like bin Laden , we need to go in and grab him , shoot him dead , and in his case , show the pictures / video .
It was a mistake not to show a dead OBL .
Show the SEALs pissing on his corpse . make the ISIS go insane and they will make more mistake in their rage .
They all need to be defeated and killed , in detail . No quarter , no remainder . No seed
It cannot be repeated often enough: When “Obama” calls ISIS “ISIL”—Islamic State in the Levant—he is encouraging “ISIL” to invade Israel and murder every Jew.
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