The latest video from ISIS shows the beheading of multiple soldiers of the forces of Bashir al Assad of Syria. It also shows the severed head of an American aid worker Peter Kassig who was murdered by the ISIS thugs. Kassig was a particularly poignant target for ISIS since he had organized a charity that brought food and medical supplies to Syrians of all sorts displaced or injured by the fighting. ISIS could not abide an American helping the very people it claims to govern.
The point of this post, however, is not on the conduct of ISIS. That debate is over. ISIS is a bunch of megalomaniacal crazies for whom murder, slavery and torture are a way of life. The focus, instead, is on how should we deal with these disgusting thugs.
First of all, should we follow the lead of the president Obama and separate ISIS from Islam? In the White House statement about Kassig's death as well as in the statement from John Kerry and the State Department, great pains are taken to make clear that ISIS is not Islamic. Indeed, in both statements, Kassig is referred to as Abdul-Rahman Kassig to show that he was a Moslem killed by ISIS. The truth, of course, is that Kassig converted to Islam while being held captive by ISIS. No one knows just how much coercion was used to obtain that conversion. No one knows whether or not the conversion was an attempt by Kassig to curry favor with his captors. It is rather sad that the administration decided to use the most likely coerced conversion as part of its position to delegitimize ISIS as an Islamic organization. The saddest thing about this position, however, is that everyone in the world knows and understands that ISIS is an Islamic organization. It is the "Islamic State" by its own choice. Its self professed goal is to create an Islamic caliphate. It imposes its own understanding of sharia law on those who it rules. ISIS is as Islamic as it possibly could be. That means that when Obama and his people spout their nonsense about how ISIS is not Islamic, the whole world recognizes the statements as just more lies and propaganda.
Lesson number one in dealing with ISIS should be that we need to be truthful in our discussions about ISIS. We can denounce their version of Islam as perverse or unacceptable. We ought not try to convince people that ISIS is not Islamic. It is the equivalent of trying to convince the world that it is not dark at night.
Second, are we actually intending to confront ISIS with real force designed to destroy the group? That was Obama's original goal enunciated last summer. Lately, that goal has been diminished to destroying ISIS in Iraq and containing it in Syria. Will that change to containment in Iraq and ignoring ISIS in Syria? Here too, we need to be consistent and honest. Whatever the real goal of the USA is in dealing with ISIS should be enunciated by Obama. Then steps should be taken to attain that goal. If the nation's goals cannot even be made clear by Obama, then there is no way that any effective measures against ISIS can be undertaken.
Obviously, there are many tactical questions that we could address with regard to the fight against ISIS. Before we get to those questions, however, we need to agree on the goals. At the moment, Obama has muddied the water sufficiently so that no one can truthfully say that he or she understands America's aims in the struggle with ISIS. This is a terrible problem and it needs to be resolved swiftly.
The point of this post, however, is not on the conduct of ISIS. That debate is over. ISIS is a bunch of megalomaniacal crazies for whom murder, slavery and torture are a way of life. The focus, instead, is on how should we deal with these disgusting thugs.
First of all, should we follow the lead of the president Obama and separate ISIS from Islam? In the White House statement about Kassig's death as well as in the statement from John Kerry and the State Department, great pains are taken to make clear that ISIS is not Islamic. Indeed, in both statements, Kassig is referred to as Abdul-Rahman Kassig to show that he was a Moslem killed by ISIS. The truth, of course, is that Kassig converted to Islam while being held captive by ISIS. No one knows just how much coercion was used to obtain that conversion. No one knows whether or not the conversion was an attempt by Kassig to curry favor with his captors. It is rather sad that the administration decided to use the most likely coerced conversion as part of its position to delegitimize ISIS as an Islamic organization. The saddest thing about this position, however, is that everyone in the world knows and understands that ISIS is an Islamic organization. It is the "Islamic State" by its own choice. Its self professed goal is to create an Islamic caliphate. It imposes its own understanding of sharia law on those who it rules. ISIS is as Islamic as it possibly could be. That means that when Obama and his people spout their nonsense about how ISIS is not Islamic, the whole world recognizes the statements as just more lies and propaganda.
Lesson number one in dealing with ISIS should be that we need to be truthful in our discussions about ISIS. We can denounce their version of Islam as perverse or unacceptable. We ought not try to convince people that ISIS is not Islamic. It is the equivalent of trying to convince the world that it is not dark at night.
Second, are we actually intending to confront ISIS with real force designed to destroy the group? That was Obama's original goal enunciated last summer. Lately, that goal has been diminished to destroying ISIS in Iraq and containing it in Syria. Will that change to containment in Iraq and ignoring ISIS in Syria? Here too, we need to be consistent and honest. Whatever the real goal of the USA is in dealing with ISIS should be enunciated by Obama. Then steps should be taken to attain that goal. If the nation's goals cannot even be made clear by Obama, then there is no way that any effective measures against ISIS can be undertaken.
Obviously, there are many tactical questions that we could address with regard to the fight against ISIS. Before we get to those questions, however, we need to agree on the goals. At the moment, Obama has muddied the water sufficiently so that no one can truthfully say that he or she understands America's aims in the struggle with ISIS. This is a terrible problem and it needs to be resolved swiftly.
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