Posted on 07/21/2015 1:38:01 PM PDT by Academiadotorg
Academia might not understand ISIS, but the service academies do. ISIS, or ISIL, has made significant territorial gains across the Middle East and inroads into the heart of Africa. A recent panel discussion on the rise of ISIS at the Heritage Foundation featured Dr. Sebastian Gorka, the Major General Matthew C. Horner Distinguished Chair of Military Theory at the Marine Corps University. isis terrorists
Gorkas work involves support of U.S. Special Forces such as the Green Berets and the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. His assessment of ISISs rise is a bleak one, saying, The current threat environment is a very very ugly one. Whether youre a Christian girl a Yazidi hounded on a mountaintop this is your reality. Gorka made note of the Garland, Texas terrorist attack on an event held by Pamela Geller that focused on satirical cartoons and claimed that the rise of ISIS and Islamist terrorism is a threat to the United States.
Simply put, The baseline analysis is very simple ISIS is much more dangerous than al-Qaeda. In technical terms, Gorka noted, ISIS is a graduate level threat. First, it is far more dangerous than al-Qaeda because it is its own, self-generated, fully fledged insurgency. Al-Qaeda was somewhat dependent on other separatist, Islamist-fueled movements such as Somalias al-Shabab and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
An insurgency, said Gorka, holds territory in daylight. ISIS meets this requirement, but expands beyond this definition as it currently holds territory larger than the United Kingdoms home island. Gorka called ISIS the worlds first transnational insurgency because it operates and holds territory in at least three countries. ISIS is the one insurgency that controls more than one territory in the Middle East.
He added, In the 20th century, insurgencies were about one thing: taking hold of the country where the insurgency is rooted. However, ISIS has much grander ambitions; it wishes to create a global caliphate: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and on and on and on. Also, Boko Harams pledge to ISIS makes their African territory a part of ISISs global caliphate.
Secondly, ISIS is unique because it is a cash cow, so to speak. Gorka pointed out, ISIS netted $823 million in cash last year. Comparatively, al-Qaedas expenses and whole operation, from safe houses to flight school training, cost $500,000. He said, That is a very large threat.
Thirdly, ISIS recruited 19,000 foreign fighters in 9 months. These are the kinds of figures that al-Qaeda had wet dreams about. Al-Qaeda never had this kind of success, Gorka said, and ISISs rise shows this is a real caliphate. Yet this should not have come as a surprise because the extremists have been demanding a caliphate since the fall of Ottomans and this puts [ISIS] at the pinnacle of the Islamist extremist threat.
Fourth, ISIS has declared a global caliphate without rival. Too often, the West does not label Islamist threats correctly, suggested Gorka. You wouldnt call the Soviet Union misguided democrats, he said. When one takes a look at what ISIS calls itself and its global caliphate, Al Shaam, you get a better idea of their intentions. Al Shaam relates to the end times, to judgment day, Gorka said, The final holy war before the end of the world is their end goal. He believed that this ideological concept of a final holy war is the only way that 20,000 fighters in less of a year went to join ISIS. Their game plan, he said, is a little bit larger than Iraq and Syria it is a global caliphate.
But, the focus on air strikes and air superiority is flawed, Gorka noted. Gorka said, Air power prepares for ground and therefore we will never defeat ISIS without ground troops commitment. Someone, he said, has to contest that soil.
Their playbook, he continued, is on Google. Abu Bakr Naji, who was killed by U.S.-Pakistani military, wrote Master of Savagery and is the anti-Petraeus manual for terrorists. This is exactly what they are using as their strategy, posited Gorka. The playbook consists of three major phases, with varying length and duration:
Phase 1: Vexation, or initial guerilla warfare to wear down the enemy Phase 2: Spread Savagery, or coordinate guerilla warfare to expand territory Phase 3: Administer Savagery, Consolidate, Expand, or stabilizing held areas while planting IEDs and creating a base of operations
The last phase can last for a century because it is creating a giant echo booth, a giant forward operating base for future propaganda and expansion efforts. This is what I call the hybrid caliphate strategy, Gorka concluded. ISIS did not outright reject strategy and the Westphalian model, but adjusted it to fit their ideology.
Gorka concluded three major points about ISIS and its rise to power:
First, It understands irregular warfare. It read the right books they read their Mao. They saw the need to outgovern the government and their expansive Internet presence trumps the West. Gorka admitted, We are having our lunch eaten every day by ISIS on social media.
Secondly, The caliphate will continue to grow unless it is challenged on the ground. Gorka criticized Obamas outlook on ISISs motivations based on economics and job-hunting, saying, Its like a bad SNL skit. He concluded, We need to talk truly about the ideology being utilized.
Finally, the worlds anti-ISIS efforts must be integrated into strategic response or will be condemned to whack-a-mole.
Never killed off moles — but if it’s anything like killing gophers, I’ve got a couple ideas.
"Licensed to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. A man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that's all she wrote."
I am comforted knowing our noble politicians are up to the challenge presented by ISIS. /sarc
Absolutely. He’s my mentor, and taught me well.
Will always remember his parting words of wisdom: “Gunga galunga, gunga gunga lagunga.”
I listen to ‘The Sam Sorbo Show’ almost every day, Terrific woman and show.
She has Sebastian Gorka on a segment often. Very wise, insightful man.
Another frequent guest, C. Edmund Wright.
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