How much of a threat is the ISIS group actually to US and global security? And what will be achieved by launching a campaign of western airstrikes against them?
Certainly, ISIS employs gruesome tactics such as the public beheadings of hostages. But, public beheadings also occur in the Kingdom Saudi Arabia on a regular basis at the infamous "chop, chop square" in Riyadh. While the ISIS beheadings are both grusesome and deplorable they are hardly unique to the region or a tactic beyond the pale in relation what other established Governments who are western allies employ.
Also, why is ISIS carrying out these beheadings and then promoting them on internet video sites? Could it be that they want to provoke the western powers and have us enter the battle. Could it be that they need the west involved in the conflict in order to justify their narrative of a great jihad against the west. Could it be that western airstrikes will actually benefit ISIS by creating more hatred for us and driving more recruits to their cause? And if these are the motivations of our enemy then why are the western powers allowing themselves to be so easily manipulated? What positive outcomes do we think will be achieved by military intervention?
The fact of the matter is that western intervention in the region going back many years has been what has led to the creation of ISIS. An illegal war in Iraq that killed over one million civilians and left the country divided and in chaos. Blind, unequivocal US support for the apartheid state in Israel. Western backing and support for Syrian rebels added to massive funding from our allies (the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey) who have been fighting a proxy war against Iran in the region. This is what has led to the emergence of ISIS.
Western military intervention against ISIS can have no positive outcome. A campaign against ISIS will inevitably lead to bombing targets in Syria, without a UN mandate! This will only draw us into further conflict with both Russia and Iran. Already US officials are talking about the goals of the mission extending beyond the elimination of ISIS to include regime change in Syria. Syria is a Russian ally and Russia has pledged to protect her against foregin aggression.
What the US and the west should rather be focused on is how they use soft power to combat the process of radicalization that leads too many young Muslim men and women to join the extremist cause. If we want to be a moral voice in the region then we need to hold our allies such as Israel and the KSA accountable to the same high standards of human rights that we hold ourselves. We must not base our military interventions on knee jerk reactions to gruesome online videos designed to provoke us into the battle, but, rather think about how our diplomacy and international policies can support a genuine movement towards peace across the region.
ISIS poses a regional threat and they should be countered by the major regional powers - Iran, the KSA, and Turkey. The US and the western powers should not allow themselves to get drawn into the conflict militarily. All western military intervention will do is create greater recruits to the extremist cause, lead to the death of more innocent civilians as a result of our airstrikes, and further inflame an already hostile relationship with major powers such as Russia and Iran.
