Two very different policy advocates say
SWJ has id'd a Bing West article:http://www.nationalreview.com/articl...isil-bing-west
As I posted on SWJ there is something wrong with his advocacy:
Quote:
'Muslim ground forces to push the Islamists out of Iraq and Syria' and 'Muslim leaders have failed their people'.
I have read Bing's article twice and wondered whether these two passages negate his whole argument. Which Muslim armies are ready for such a campaign today or tomorrow? Not one I would contend, nor in an alliance of the willing. Then he assumes the very same failed leaders will act. There are few leaders in the local, Arabic-speaking Muslim world who answer to their people
Then there are the "two ladies speaking truth unto power", an article by two ex-USG (CIA) analysts in 'What the U.S. can realistically do in Iraq':http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/14/op...n-iraq-crisis/
Quote:
The debate generally ignores a key underlying fact: The United States no longer has the ability or the will to shape the outcome in Iraq to the degree that American policy makers would like.
Why does Isis hate us so much? Part 2
Shashank Joshi, of RUSI, has another article 'Where does the Islamic State's fetish with beheading people come from?':http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/sh...eading-people/
He tries to answer this:
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What, though, is the purpose of such brutality? The jihadists of the Islamic State (IS) are not, after all, nihilists. .....they are a highly professional military force, more similar to an army than insurgents, and seek a well-administered Islamic state.
So why engage in beheadings and crucifixions?
First, psychological warfare is a key part of IS’s military strategy.
Second, IS understands that Western governments are, to some extent, dissuaded by the prospect of a British or American soldier meeting with a similar fate.
Third, terrorism is a form of propaganda by the deed. And the more chilling the deed, the more impactful the propaganda.
Now this is unexpected - well for me:
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The first is that it can induce your enemies to fight even harder, because surrendering is such an awful option.
One academic study shows that “the Wehrmacht’s policy of treating Soviet POWs brutally undercut German military effectiveness on the Eastern front”. Moreover, the Soviets’ own relative brutality to Germans meant that German soldiers fought harder in Russia than in Normandy. The lesson? IS can make its enemies flee, but it would be a foolish Iraqi unit that surrendered – and the net effect is that IS has to fight all the harder.
ISIS: Public Legitimacy Through the Reenactment of Islam’s Early History
ISIS: Public Legitimacy Through the Reenactment of Islam’s Early History
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ISIS Is Paying Attention To What Experts Are Saying About Them
ISIS Is Paying Attention To What Experts Are Saying About Them
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