When the black-clad killer used a knife to saw off the head of journalist James Foley, his vicious action just may have signaled the eventual death knell for ISIS.
The widely disseminated video of that vile murder has outraged civilized people throughout the world, so much so it’s possible some unexpected alliances will soon be forming, all of them united against ISIS, which stands for “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.” Even some countries like Iran, hostile to the United States, are in danger of ISIS spreading its foul poison far and wide. The lunatic (but dangerous) ambition of ISIS is nothing less than the destruction of all Western societies. Are you listening, Europe? Like Adolf Hitler, who thought his Aryan State would last a thousand years, the mania of ISIS leaders is just as ridiculous. Grandiose dreams like those, stupid as they are, often spawn genocidal catastrophes; we should never forget the magnitude of relentless horrors visited upon the world by the Nazi thugs in trying to achieve their Aryan “perfection.”
The decapitation of Foley is just the latest in a string of crimes committed by ISIS extremists during their rampages through Syria and a large part of Iraq. They have exploded civilians; they have butchered women and children; they have abducted women to use or to sell as sex slaves; they have gunned to death, en masse, captured Iraqi soldiers; they have decapitated many people they regard as heretics; they have perpetrated mutilations and torture; and they have also reportedly buried people alive and even crucified some. There is no end to their sadistic savagery, which they relish.
That kind of barbarism, which harks back to Genghis Khan, is a wake-up call to the world. ISIS has declared itself to be the new Muslim Caliphate, founded and to be perpetuated by constant “jihad” (armed struggle). The leader of ISIS, Iraqi-born Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (now also known, megalomaniacally, as Caliph Ibrahim), is vowing his jihadists will extend the Caliphate throughout the Middle East under iron-clad Sunni Sharia law, Sunni being one of the major sects of Islam.
Such a scheme is bound to fail, partly through its own absurdity, partly because such top-heavy ambitions eventually sink under their own weight or are ripped apart by their own contradictions, power struggles and ideological schisms from within.
However, in the meantime, groups like ISIS can cause enormous destruction and suffering, as we have already seen in the news. Who can forget the heartbreaking stories and images of the Yazidi people forced onto Mt. Sinjar in northern Iraq where they were doomed to starve or be massacred if they dared come down the mountain into the clutches of ISIS? Thankfully, the United States, Britain and France came to their rescue. ISIS wrongfully believes the Yazidi are devil worshippers, therefore in the twisted ISIS belief system, deserving of slaughter. In some cases, ISIS rebels will give a captured “infidel” a chance to convert to Sunni Islamism. It’s only insecure fools who would “force” someone to convert, an almost comic absurdity. If ISIS has any doubt about the sincerity of the conversion, it’s a bullet through the brain, off with the head or even worse.
What is frightening about ISIS is the experts tell us they are well funded, highly trained and possess powers of recruitment through their well-developed media-propaganda machine, which includes social media of every conceivable kind. It’s an alarming fact many of their members and/or sympathizers come from other countries, including the United States. The killer who murdered Foley, judging by his accent, was obviously a British national. One of the suicide bombers was a young American man. What kind of people anywhere on the planet would be attracted to this band of butchers? What is wrong with their minds, their hearts? But, then again, we shouldn’t be too surprised as there are neo-Nazi groups right here in the United States who actually think Adolf Hitler was quite a fine fellow.
As President Barack Obama said, ISIS is a cancer that must be cut out, as long as it may take. This time around, it’s likely even the usual congressional obstructionists will agree with Obama and authorize at least air strikes, as well as material aid to Iraqi soldiers and the Kurd fighters north of Iraq. But ISIS can only be weakened and destroyed if other countries join together in that effort. The video of Foley’s decapitation just might help jump-start some powerful alliances against these blood-drenched criminals. It’s got to be done one way or another because it’s only a matter of time before ISIS starts exporting its terrorism here, there and everywhere. How bad is ISIS? Well, let’s put it this way: al Qaeda broke its ties with it, disturbed by its acts of arbitrary brutality.
