The name has been on everyone’s lips recently. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has catalogued some truly stunning military victories in the last few weeks, threatening the very existence of Iraq and Syria through its dream of uniting the two (and other countries) into a greater Islamic Caliphate in the Middle East.
Most disturbingly, their extreme show of force was completely unexpected, a difficult feat to accomplish under the watchful eyes of the West, but one that was repeated by the ISIS attack Wednesday on Iraq’s largest air force base.
This second surprise attack came as experts were predicting that the group would begin to consolidate its control over territory already captured, instead of trying to extend its military (of only several thousand fighters) any further, raising the question of how far ISIS will get.
The Levant, stretching from Iraq in the East to Israel, Lebanon, and even Cyprus in the West, marks ISIS’ territorial claims. Can they realistically capture all that land?
The answer, in all likelihood, is no. Absolutely not. So much would have to be accomplished in such a short time by such a small group that the possibility is relatively inconceivable.
However, the gains already made by ISIS along with the stagnation and lack of political will in the West means that this crisis is far from over. Chaos and brutality has yet to abdicate their throne in the Middle East and these forces will have far reaching impacts on politics, fundamentally changing the way the modern world views humanity, terrorism, the role of the UN and the US, and the very nature of warfare. » | John-Michael Kibrick | Sunday, June 29, 2014
