Rabat - The military prowess of ISIS is a mystery to Western observers.Nations with elite militaries fail to understand how the armies they have trained and equipped lose ground so fast to what they take to be small, unorganized, poorly equipped and trained commandos of uneducated and uncultured bigots. Their initial conviction that ISIS will be defeated by the support of air strikes and financial blockades is faltering. Not only has ISIS become increasingly wealthy, but it is conquering oil fields and depriving both Syria and Iraq of not only the sources of their wealth but also of the weight of the entrenched régimes and their hold on regional power. Furthermore, ISIS saves money on weaponry and equipment by simply picking up those left behind by the fleeing armies.
The strength of ISIS has many sources. First, they are supported by a strong ideology and an efficient, professional, and skillfully-run communication system. Second, the motivation of its fighters, their conviction, commitment, and their drive to die for a passion creates a power base of untold proporations. Third, its men operate in territories they are familiar with and are among people they counted as friends and neighbors. Fourth, ISIS field commanders have their origins in the very armies Western powers have disbanded and helped destroy, as well as from secret police organizations which they trained in intelligence techniques, street fighting, torture, and resistance. Fifth, contrary to what most Westerners seem to think, ISIS is not operating in a hostile environment; its neighbors ensure it is able to import and export goods, oil, weapons, fighters, and wives for the men. Sixth, ISIS is infused with the monetary benefits of a powerful financial network. Seventh, a divided, lethargic, fearful, hesitant, and perhaps partially complicit international community further emboldens ISIS.
About one million soldiers throughout Syria and Iraq supported by the mightiest armies of the world have been retreating systematically under the pressure of a few thousand scattered in more than five countries. What is the driving force they are utilizing? They claim it is God. I propose it is the weakness of the standing armies, the political pettiness of the allies, the egotism and narcissism of politicians, the short-sightedness of the local social and tribal authorities, the resignation of the intellectual elites, and the greed of arms makers and weapons dealers.
Winning a war may not mean winning a battle. However, the terror of ISIS is in its brutal victories, wins a battle, it beheads men, stones women to death, weds as trophies little girls to its warriors, burns libraries, and destroys precious world heritage sites. Every provisional victory it makes, no matter how small and how brief, is one too many and too long. A deadly mistake would be to think that ISIS is not here to stay or that it will wait for alliances to form in order to defeat it. Every additional day it survives makes it stronger, more resourceful, and more anchored in the terrain. Waiting for a collective global surge of political will against ISIS has but one outcome—the perception that the forces it fights are weak and can only seek a compromise rather than having the ability to defeat it outright.
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