Strongly Recommended: What ISIS Really Wants

Probably the single most important military doctrine is to “know your enemy”.  It is pretty clear that the current Western governments don’t understand ISIS.  The media, for the most part, seem equally in the dark, and so is the general public.

The left is blinded by its political correctness, its need to be “ecumenical”, and is unable to understand the depth of religious conviction that drives the core of ISIS (The left in general has trouble understanding religion conviction). The president continues to assert that ISIS is “not Islamic”, when in fact it is indeed VERY Islamic – hewing tightly to the medieval roots of Islam and the literal words of the Prophet. Fortunately most Muslims are not such fundamentalists, just as it is fortunate that most Christians are not fundamentalists. But a fundamentalist Christian is certainly a Christian – motivated by the literal interpretation of the scriptures - even if not our type of Christian.  Just so a fundamentalist Muslim is certainly a Muslim – motivated by the literal words of the Prophet -  even if not practicing the kind of Islam that most Muslims practice.

The right, on the other hand, is driven into a frenzy of mindless illiberal, un-American, and unconstitutional suggestions such as registering all Muslims, or refusing immigration by any further Muslims, none of which would have any impact whatever on constraining ISIS, and would probably be a major boon to their recruiting efforts.

The best, most coherent, and probably the best researched discussion about ISIS that I have read is Graeme Wood’s article What ISIS Really Wants in the March 2015 issue of The Atlantic Monthly. I strongly recommend it.  He has gone to some of the most important sources – Islamic leaders who speak for ISIS and have a major role in recruiting for ISIS – in order to understand the appeal of ISIS worldwide, the reason why Muslims from around the world are streaming into ISIS by the thousands.

Until we all – public and political leaders alike – have a better understanding of exactly why ISIS exists, what it seeks,and how it thinks our attempts to counter if will continue to be expensive but largely ineffectual, as they have been to date.