DECEMBER 2015

in my VIEW
ISIS November surprises make no sense — or do they?
A
fascinating article
by Frida Ghitis,
columnist for
the Miami Herald and
World Politics Review, attempts
to construct a logical
framework around the
seemingly self-destructive
actions of ISIS. The events
last month with the downing
of the Russian passenger
plane, the bombing
in Beirut, and the coordinated
attacks on Paris are mind boggling,
not only because of their boldness
but because on the surface they
make no strategic sense.
ISIS does control some territory in
Iraq and Syria and they managed to
kill more than 500 people in the November
attacks. But these attacks had
absolutely no geo-political or strategic
advantage for ISIS. In fact, sane minds
would argue the opposite. The bombing
of the Russian jet drew Russia and
the United States closer together in
the fight against terrorism. The Paris
attacks brought immediate and lethal
retaliation from the French, who have
promised a sustained effort to destroy
ISIS. And ISIS continues to rattle the
cages of their Shiite enemies in Lebanon,
Syria, Iraq and Iran. None of this
seems designed to make life easier or
better for ISIS.
Why then? Ghitis argues several
interesting if counterintuitive points.
First, ISIS is seeking a cataclysmic
clash of the cultures between the secular
world and the righteous Islamic
State. France is the epicenter of secular
Europe; Russia an atheist country
with their own imperial designs. Let
Russia align with western nations,
MICHAEL G.
SARAFA
SPECIAL TO THE
CHALDEAN NEWS
the argument goes; trigger
the NATO Alliance
so that the war with ISIS
takes on epic proportions.
Secondly, ISIS wants to
challenge what it views as
false religions, beginning
with Shiite Muslims represented
by the ruling parties
in Syria, Iraq and Iran.
Thus, with Russia being
forced to turn their attention
to fighting terrorism,
the ability to prop up the regime in
Syria is lessened. By hitting a Hezbollah
stronghold in Beirut, they are
striking out at Iran. Their ability to
It’s hard to understand not only the evil of ISIS, but its tactics.
control large parts of Iraq make the
Shiite-dominated government in
Baghdad look impotent.
Enter Pope Francis, who called
the battle with radical Islam the
Third World War. It is no secret that
the endgame for ISIS includes in part
the defeat of Rome, not in the territorial
sense, but rather by extending
the reach of the Caliphate’s political
and religious philosophy.
Third, ISIS efforts are spurning
the immigration crisis. The lands
they want to control are bleeding
Muslims. What better way to stop
Muslim immigration to the West
than to use easy international flow to
plan a terror attack?
“Who,” Ghitis asks, “takes a passport
to a terrorist attack?” The Syrian
passport found at the site of one of the
Paris incidences was left there deliberately,
she says, to embarrass the border
patrol of these countries and also to
bring to a screeching halt the refugee
flow into Europe and the United
States. On that front, ISIS November
surprises were successful.
Not only did the people in
France, the U.S. and other western
nations quickly turn against Muslim
refugees, but these events are sure to
stoke anger and fear at the Muslim
citizens of these countries. As Ghitis
says, “ISIS wants a war between
Islam and the rest of the world, with
Muslims on its side, as a way of creating
and expanding its so-called caliphate.”
Here again: success.
ISIS has raised the stakes. The
next months will likely not be good
for them. France and possibly even
the United States will be under immense
pressure to put boots on the
ground to expedite the defeat of the
group. ISIS leaders will have to go underground,
lest they will almost certainly
be killed. Civilian populations
in ISIS strongholds will no longer be
a hindrance to aerial attacks. It will
be ugly for them. Almost certainly,
ISIS will suffer severe setbacks. These
results would prevent most rationale
groups from taking such actions in the
first place. So why then?
ISIS’ thinking is pathological,
their orientation anti-modern, their
methods barbaric and their tactics
inhumane. Ghitis argues that, in
fact, ISIS is intentionally destructive
and self-destructive and that their
ultimate goal is “apocalyptic” — that
they are seeking an “end of the days
battle” with the West.
They may get such a battle but it
will almost certainly be an end of their
day’s battle. Much suffering on both
sides will occur. By our way of measuring,
they will lose. But in their minds,
in losing, they win. How is that?
In order to defeat ISIS, the United
States and our allies have to throw
out the rulebook. By suspending civil
liberties, thwarting our own constitution,
retaliating without discretion,
we become a little less civilized,
a little less democratic and a little
less free. Yes, maybe then, then end
of days gets a little closer.
Michael Sarafa is president of the Bank
of Michigan and a co-publisher of the
Chaldean News.
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8 CHALDEAN NEWS DECEMBER 2015