In June of 2013 I wrote an opinion piece on the brutal beheading of British soldier Lee Rigby on a London street, explaining how this dangerous precedence had brought jihad to our front doors. I was further convinced of this after the horrific beheading of an Oklahoma woman last week at the hands of an angry co-worker, allegedly fired because he was attempting to convert his colleagues to Islam.
In less than one year, The Islamic State known as ISISL has forced the West, specifically the US, to change its Middle East strategy by engaging in coalition building and airstrikes. Furthermore, ISISL has suddenly become the most feared terrorist organization in the world, leaving al Qaida and the Taliban in a distant second and third. The past opinion headline read “You will never be safe,” quoting what Rigby’s killer Michael Adebolajo said to a female bystander who confronted him after the killing. This appears to be the one recurring theme in the Jihadist’s notebook of terror. One which leaves the victims feeling completely vulnerable, wherever they may be. It is the terror of the unknown, and this is exactly what ISISL is attempting to cultivate in the West.
On September 10, President Obama spoke to America about ISIl.
The sheer brutality of ISIL forces is so obscene none of the television networks will show any of its videos completely; Facebook and Twitter have embargoed their accounts. Even though what ISIL is doing with respect to mass murder, rape, and the selling of women and children as slaves is beyond barbaric, ISISL believes this is shar'ia law and therefore acceptable to God.
In his international bestseller entitled The Tragedy of the Templars, Michael Haag says: “In 831 A.D. (the caliph Mamun) launched a ‘murderous’ expedition against a widespread revolt in Egypt, the twelfth since the Muslim conquest, breaking Christian resistance by massacres, and deportations, killing all men, plundering their belongings and selling their women and children into slavery—the standard response to insurrection proscribed by shari'a law.”
Recently in Iran, a group of men and women were sentenced to 50 lashes and jail time, because they made a music video, which featured both sexes dancing to the Pharrell Williams hit song “Happy.” This is the nature of sharia law. It is important to encourage our fellow Muslim citizens to take-up the fight against ISIL, because it's in their best interest to do so. In most cases, extreme beliefs are anathema to any progressive society.
Furthermore, it is important to stop the flow of money to ISISL as well as halting its ability to sell conflict oil at a discounted price on the open market. For example, on September 22, 2014 the New York Times reported, "A federal jury on Monday found Arab Bank liable for knowingly supporting terrorism efforts connected to two dozen attacks in the Middle East, the first time a bank has ever been held liable in a civil suit under a broad anti-terrorism statute."
But remember, understanding the threat we face―right now―is much more important than outlining the course of future long term action. Obviously, ISISL is a group of psychopathic killers driven by religious fanaticism based on Islam and shari'a law; but they are also driven by a hatred for all those people outside their mad jihadist view of the world, a view that would return humanity to the Dark Ages.
This war will not be over anytime soon. It has taken several generations to arrive where we are today. Because of this, to educate the ignorant while convincing people radical Islam is not a way of life will be no less indicative of time. A new approach is needed to combat radical jihadists, and this new approach must include the sincere efforts of all the Arab states from Africa to the Persian Gulf.
Part of the solution to solving problems in the Middle East is by reaching-out to the children in the region, because the majority of adults have seen too much misery for them to backdown. Terrorists have no shame when it comes to putting children in harm’s way. They do it regularly in order to achieve a certain objective such as creating new martyrs by convincing them to become suicide bombers, or by using children as human shields.
ISISL is very good at propagating hate. It disseminates ruthless videos to prove it can carry out its threats. They are a danger to global security, but it’s not because of oil, it’s about the idea of a Caliphate based on a strict radicalized form of Islam and shari'a law. Julius Caesar once said and I paraphrase: The idea is greater than the man, because the idea is eternal.
In the near future, we may see waves of suicide bombers destroying municipal infrastructure, while others slaughter local citizens with random beheadings of innocents; or other mass casualty attacks with no real military objective other than to terrorize the local population; attacks meant to create the sick feeling of insecurity and imminent doom. This is what the terrorists are hoping to cultivate, a culture of fear. These are the threats we are confronted with right now. If they succeed, fear of the unknown, unseen, radicalized terrorist next door may soon become a daily reality in the West.
