A rchive Date
[ 19-01-2017 ]
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[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Iraq ]
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[http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/09/06/robert-fulford-meet-isis-the-most-dangerous-terrorist-group-in-the-world/
Meet ISIS, the most dangerous terrorist group in the world
Robert Fulford | September 6, 2014 7:43 AM ET
The emergence of terrorism in a new form has sent tremors of anxiety around the globe. ISIS, the self-proclaimed Islamic state and caliphate, has redefined the meaning of terror by combining relentless barbarism with military skill, religious bigotry, unprecedented affluence and the shrewd use of video and social media.
In Syria and Iraq, it has captured territory occupied by about 8-million people. If it holds those lands, its rise will be the most significant revision of Middle East geography since national borders were set after the First World War.
ISIS already has altered the status of Barack Obama, whose policy has been to reduce American engagement in foreign nations.
With ISIS proudly decapitating U.S. citizens on video and slaughtering its Shia captives by the hundreds, Obama’s supporters are demanding that he deal with this menace. A Washington Post writer even calls it “the defining crisis of his presidency.” His advisers are groping for a handhold, though Obama apparently doesn’t know whether to obliterate ISIS or make it a manageable problem. The U.S. Senate, once a source of foreign-policy wisdom, is busy fighting a mid-term election that will likely change its leadership from Democrat to Republican.
In Britain, the government will cancel the passports of British citizens (perhaps as many as 500 of them) who are enlisting with ISIS. NATO feels called upon to awaken. Across the Middle East, ISIS has spread fear in every government. Turkey’s border with Syria, often used by ISIS volunteers, makes it vulnerable to attack. The Saudis have expressed fear that ISIS will not spare them despite their shared Sunni allegiance.
Only three years ago the Arab Spring briefly promised a shift toward democracy. Instead, it produced more dictatorships and then reignited the deadly struggle between Sunni and Shiite.
There’s a bitter irony in the location of the ISIS killing ground - the Fertile Crescent, the region often called the cradle of civilization. This is where science, education and unfettered trade developed into Arab values before they were Europe’s. The first cities sprang to life there, maintaining a dynamic and creative pluralism for centuries.
Modern times have left the Arab lands plagued by ignorance and afflicted by poverty. The struggle between Sunnis and Shias has carried the appalling history of the Arabs into yet another century.
How did this particular calamity happen?
Hisham Melhem, a distinguished journalist and a Washington correspondent for the Lebanese daily Al-Nahar, says that many Arabs blame America, Israel, Iran or some other outside force. But the truth is that “the ISIS cancer” was created by Arab politics over six generations. As Melhem says, “Civil society was gutted, particularly in Syria and Iraq, where the ruling elites controlled every aspect of social and economic life.” They intimidated enlightened nationalists, preventing them from forming independent organizations.
“ISIS is Al-Qaeda on steroids,” Melhem says. Its depravity “puts it way beyond the Taliban. ISIS is the first modern terrorist organization that acts as a death cult.” On video, an ISIS leader says, as if speaking reasonably, that they kill Yazidis only after giving them a fair chance to convert to Islam.
In Iraq, ISIS attracts Sunnis who are enraged by the pro-Shia policies of the Iraqi government.
In Syria, it enlists angry Sunnis who have been shunned by the Assad dynasty for generations.
ISIS appeals to young, unemployed, would-be warriors with a Sunni background. Karen Koning AbuZayd, a US diplomat with the UN’s Commission of Inquiry in Syria, has explained why: “They see it’s better, these guys are strong, these guys are winning battles, taking territory, they have money, they can train us.”
The crucial word in that sentence is “money.” Wealth makes ISIS unique among terrorist gangs. It doesn’t need to beg Qatar or Turkey for money to buy guns or pay its troops. In the ISIS area, there’s plentiful oil and gas, saleable on the international market. When needed, ISIS can kidnap for ransom or rob banks. It taxes farmers and businesses, taking care to drain them without altogether destroying them. And ISIS doesn’t need to hide out among the Taliban or some rogue branch of the Pakistani army.
That’s the major change ISIS has brought to the world. It is something new on the planet, the first terrorist group with its own land and its own growing treasury. The civilized world may be able to dislodge it. So far, however, no one understands what strategy will be required or who will have the will and courage to carry it out. That’s the most terrifying truth about these terrorists.
National Post
robert.fulford@utoronto.ca
2014 National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited.
 World Fact Book (CIA)
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