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A Midshipman Strategy: Defeating ISIS

发布时间:2017-03-19
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A Midshipman Strategy: Defeating ISIS

Terrorism has increasingly grown into a national and international problem all over the world. It is a worldwide issue which has directly and indirectly affected almost every nation across the globe. Many countries have attempted to oppose terrorism; however, terrorists have and will always find means of getting support by someone. Eller defines Terrorism to be “a violent act of terrifying the common public anytime in the day or night” (18). The main goal of the terrorists is to have their demands fulfilled by the government of a specific country, but terrorists also attack due to trying to fulfill religious and ideological goals. They use communicating sources such as online social media, newspapers, and magazines to spread their voices to the public and government. Often, they make civilians of the country their primary target. Examples of terrorism include the bombing of the U.S. Embassy, the atom bomb attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the 9/11 attack on the twin towers.

ISIS is the most recent threat within the War on Terror taking place in the nation of Iraq and surrounding areas. The word ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, but it is sometimes referred to as ISIL because of the term “Levant” is often used in replace of “Syria.” In most cases, a person will have the impression that ISIS just came out from nowhere because the organization was not present in Iraq during any full scale military operations which the U.S. were a part of. Research concerning the origins of ISIS and stated that 12 of ISIS top leaders were prisoners at Camp Bucca, including the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi (Ward). Therefore, the prisoners who met while at camp Bucca were the foundation of the organization which is known today as ISIS.

Although the organization is widely identified as a terrorist group, ISIS presents a threat that may make classifying them as “terrorists” somewhat misleading. As Waddell stated, “rather than using targeted attacks to further specific goals, ISIS is waging full-out war on the Iraqi government in a campaign to capture territory, then governing those territories in an organized fashion” (paragraph 3). From this, one can conclude that the behavior displayed by ISIS is not what would be expected from a terrorist group. Instead, ISIS is operating as a rebel government whose goal is to capture the most territory possible in order to become the official government in Iraq. Although, continuing to perceive ISIS as a terrorist group would be due to certain ideological reasons. For example, ISIS has very close ideologies to that of other organizations such as Al-Qaeda, which act like terrorists.

Today, ISIS is becoming one of the most powerful active forces in Iraq, controlling a large portion of Iraq. For the past several years, various organizations that have engaged in the uprising against the U.S. have also unified with ISIS (Ward). For a long period of time, however, a noticeable difference between Al-Qaeda, the origin of ISIS, and those loyal to Saddam Hussein, the Ba’athists, was difficult to see. From an American perspective, one could surely notice that different organizations were engaged in a military alliance against the U.S. However, in 2013, ISIS made sure to note they were separate from Al-Qaeda. Then later in 2014, ISIS declared itself as the official government of Iraq in which they controlled.

If ISIS were to actually gain governmental control over the entire country of Iraq, then the nation of Iraq will essentially fall under a reign of terror. It has been noted that an enormous amount of disgusting acts of violence were committed by ISIS over a period of nine weeks alone (UN News Service). Therefore, ISIS not only believes in committing atrocities against all perceived enemies, but they also demonstrate the willingness to put this belief into practice. Furthermore, the ideological destabilization of the Middle East could be caused by ISIS’s perception to have legitimate jurisdiction over not just Iraq, but the surrounding areas as well.

In September of 2014, President of the United States, Barack Obama announced a strategy to combat ISIS. The four key elements in his strategy against ISIS have been identified as using airstrikes against ISIS, forces fighting ISIS on the ground, the use of counterterrorism efforts to prevent future attacks by ISIS, and delivering assistance to those in need (Micheck and Misztal). Additionally, the U.S. has made attempts to separate ISIS from the Arab world. American efforts against ISIS have also been supported by several nations including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. But there is also the matter of counterterrorism as it relates to the law.

Naturally, skepticism has arisen concerning whether American involvement with ISIS would be wise. However, the general political consensus states that ISIS is too dangerous and out of control to be left alone. Coll mentions that “the question about President Obama’s resumption of war in Iraq is not whether it can be justified but where it will lead. Air strikes against a well-resourced guerilla army will o little if they are not accompanied by action on the ground. It would be a catastrophic error for the United States to take on that role” (paragraph 8). Therefore, a coherent strategy is still needed. Even though the U.S. has committed itself to fulfill an important role in combating ISIS, the superior ground force will need to be established by opposer political organizations within Iraq. However, whether or not a united force will emerge in the future is unknown.

One accusation concerning ISIS is that the U.S. engagement in Iraq has been renewed. The previous U.S. operations in Iraq do not concern this due to the fact that they were tangential to the War on terror. Instead, the conflict with ISIS must be imagined as being affiliated to the U.S. military efforts not in Iraq, but Afghanistan. As stated earlier, classifying ISIS as a terrorist group is misleading due to the fact that the goal of ISIS is to wreak terror upon Iraq and its surrounding areas in addition to possibly expanding further across the world. Essentially, the organization is a significant threat against the entire civilization; it is a problem that must be treated as a concern for the entire world.

Additionally, due to the level of ferociousness displayed by ISIS, they should also be deprived of all moral safety (Gowans). This is due to the fact that ISIS does not want to create a new culture for Iraq, but instead they want to eliminate all of the culture. Therefore, it is natural for one to resist ISIS because of this fact that ISIS wants to eliminate the most basic values that are held dear to each society. This would usually seem like a misjudgment; but the truth is that ISIS’s own published documents speak for themselves (McLaughlin). ISIS, in short, presents itself as a champion of what most would classify as “evil”; and if any organization deserves to be engaged with military force, it would definitely be this one.

In summary, one should realize that the conflict which the U.S. has with ISIS should not be known as an extension of war in Iraq, but instead as a continuation of the War on Terror. The main reason why the general political consensus would believe that the U.S. is in favor of taking military action in combating ISIS is due to the fact that ISIS is the successor of Al-Qaeda. However, the important question now is exactly how to proceed in a strategy that would achieve the desired objectives in defeating ISIS.

A strategy that does not explain how Iraq will gain back its territories and how a sensible government will reclaim authority of Syrian cities is not an effective strategy to destroy or defeat ISIS. The main reason to why ISIS can control these areas now is due to the masses that strongly disagree with the government in Baghdad. Thus, forming a new government in Iraq alone does not solve this gigantic problem. Additionally, at the moment, there is no essential political communication in Syria. Even if proper political communication were to be had, ISIS preserves the ability to control their territories by the use of ruthless terror. Simply put, there just is not any political solution to deal with the problems which ISIS presents.

When President Obama announced his strategy to combat ISIS back in 2014, he greatly mischaracterized ISIS as an authentic and straightforward terrorist group; it is not. Instead, ISIS is a semi-successful rebellion that now controls and governs parts of Iraq and Syria. The organization has successfully instilled fear into the masses affected by it. A strategy that would defeat and destroy this organization must also be able to defeat its current abilities and then its future abilities if there is any hope of successfully destroying its terrorist capabilities. The key elements for a successful strategy to defeat and destroy ISIS is for the U.S. to know ISIS’s strengths, weaknesses, strategies, numbers, inventory, and more importantly to know what goals they have and what they are willing to do to achieve them. The easy part is the fact that ISIS has made it clear to the world of their goal: to grow and conquer new lands throughout Iraq. If they are successful in conquering Baghdad, they will be properly funded to then take control of Syria, and their conquering would continue from there. In addition to knowing their goal, we also know the steps which they are willing to take: all and any possible. There is no evil or violent act that ISIS is not willing to implement. They have proved this already by beheading hundreds of children and placing the beheaded heads on sticks to display to the world.

Getting down to it, there is really only one way to successfully defeat and destroy ISIS: Total War. But unfortunately, the U.S. will not partake in it. Instead, the U.S., the Obama Administration in particular, is focused in on using “political solutions”. But, political solutions will not solve this conflict with ISIS, the only solution that will is the complete destruction of the organization. However, the act of Total War has not been used since World War II. In order to be successful, Total War requires the entire destruction or entire surrender of an enemy. Due to the fact that ISIS will never surrender, the only option left is total destruction. The U.S. needs to form a coalition with other allies in order to enter with over 350,000 troops to use overwhelming force to destroy them all. But unfortunately, as stated earlier, our current administration does not have the will for it.

In conclusion, ISIS is in control of large portions of Iraq and Syria and they stand as a clear threat to American interests and the stability and safety across the Middle East. If left alone, the organization’s violent behavior and population growth will greatly increase the risks of international terrorism. The United States can approach this threat with a formation of its allies. ISIS can only be defeated if a broad range of countries decide that their destruction has lasted far too long and thus join into a joint effort. Leadership and engagement for the United States will be vital to the success of such an effort, which stands as an opportunity to establish stability to the region all together.

Works Cited

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