Why is ISIS doing this?

[Takket]

When ISIS spilled into Iraq, the US seemed almost content to just let the Iraqi's handle it or even let ISIS just have the territory they wanted if the Iraq's couldn't fight them off. ISIS's goals were almost on par with the "3 state solution" that many believe is the only logical way to divide up 3 ethnic groups that can't stand each other.

But it wasn't enough for them to just accept the territory they gained to set up their Sunni state (despite pockets of other religious groups like Christians being present) and let the Shia have Baghdad. They continues marching toward Baghdad and began slaughtering the small but certainly not insignificant ethic groups in their territory. In short, having political dominion over their territory is not enough, they want a complete ethnic cleansing of anyone who does not share their belief system.

I realize irrational behavior and religious fanaticism sort of go hand in hand... but Obama made it pretty clear as the brutality against civilians increased that the US wasn't just going to allow them to get away with it. Eventually he followed through and began bombing strategic targets and this has only made ISIS step up its brutality as it has begun beheading any American it can get its hands on....

So... what is their end game here? I think if they had kept this strictly a military issue they probably would have "gotten away with it" and have been allowed to keep control over the territories they seized, but they seem almost hell bent on doing whatever it takes to get someone (US, Britain) ticked off enough to come and destroy them.

why?

I don't see what ADVANTAGE it gives them to continue antagonizing world powers that, let's face it, they really don't stand a change against in an open war. Or is their fanaticism really just so off the charts that they don't care, and they would rather tick the US off then have to accept sharing any of their land with a living Christian/Shia/Kurd, etc?

[morningfog]

1. My guess is they want the US as an enemy in open war.

Just like al qaeda. They would likely be able to recruit even more people and raise even more money if the US starts bombing wide swaths of populations or enters into ground combat.

They want us to take the bait and drain our resources again. They want the chance to kill more Americans. They hope to unify the people under their control and build on that.

We're already spending $7.5 million a day and we don't even have a strategy yet. It is so stupid.

[NCTraveler]

2. I think there are three reasons.

Listed from least important to important. Don't get me wrong, I think all three are extremely high on the list.

1) Religion. Really goes to point one. I do think they buy into the whole infidel thing. That justifies anything for them. It does them no good if we aren't right in front of them.

2) They want us there. They can't fight us here. Every westerner killed is a victory in their eyes. They need us there in order to continue their true battle against those they do not approve of. We make it easier for them to kill us by meeting them on their turf.

3) They can't even begin to fathom having enough money to continue what we are doing. For every piece of equipment or troop they see they consider it to be a victory. They think it is unsustainable for us. Maybe it is. Either way it is a part of their strategy. Both of these points, if I'm right, show me that they are doing this simply to get their enemy on the battle field and to place a burden on us for sending them there.

[GoneFishin]

3. I think that there are missing pieces to this story. You are right, it does not make sense.

[CJCRANE]

11. I agree.

I've read some good articles here on DU that go a lot further in shedding light than anything on TV.

But even with all the detailed background information I've read I still feel there is something opaque about this group.

[kentuck]

4. They want revenge...

for killing Saddam Hussein,

[Scootaloo]

15. Please tell me you're being sarcastic n/t

[kentuck]

19. Many of the ISIS fighters are former Baathist Sunnis...

and were supporters of Saddam Hussein. I would think most of them had a very bad taste in their mouths when we permitted Saddam to be hanged? So, no, it is not sarcasm.

[vlyons]

5. Yes, their fanaticism is that great!

remember, that in their belief system, martyrs get an express elevator to heaven.

[Dems to Win]

6. OBL wanted to bankrupt the US, as Afghanistan bankrupted the Soviets

Perhaps ISIS is following the same strategy -- lure the US into more and more trillion dollar military catastrophes as their strategy of taking down The Great Satan.

[Lurks Often]

7. In addition to the good points mentioned in #2

They believe that they can kill and wound enough foreign infidels, primarily Americans and force us to retreat. It would not be the first time that thought has occurred around the world and rightly or wrongly, the United States has been perceived at times to abandon an ally if the casualties became to high. Saddam Hussein thought that in the lead up to the Gulf War and the United States and her allies would retreat once we starting have people killed and wounded in large numbers.

Trying to apply logic, reason and common sense to fanatics, religious or otherwise is usually a waste of time.

[arcane1]

8. Maybe they want our troops back in Iraq?

[tularetom]

9. That's exactly what they want, and we have lots of people trying to accommodate them

I hope Obama doesn't let himself get goaded into sending troops.

[SummerSnow]

10. If they kill any more Americans , I can see him sending in troops to kill ISIS.

ISIS wants to put under their control all the Muslim occupied countries under their political and religious control and they feel the US is blocking their efforts to do so. In other words they want the US, Britain and other US allies out of all the Muslim nations.

[CJCRANE]

13. Should we engage them on their timetable

or our own timetable?

If we let them yank our chains then we've lost control of our own actions.

[morningfog]

22. There are over 1000 troops there, $7.5 million a day,

over 150 US strikes in a month. We're there.

[Dreamer Tatum]

12. Because our corporate overlords told them to.

Ha, beat you to it, whoever you are.

[951-Riverside]

14. Because it's what they're being paid to do

There are people and corporations who stand to make a lot of money from "action" in Syria and Iraq.

and...



Video: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/syria-arming-the-rebels/

NARRATOR: But in recent weeks, they have been receiving more sophisticated weapons. It appears the Obama administration is now allowing select groups of rebels like them to receive U.S.-made anti-tank missiles, known as TOWs. Many of the fighters have filmed themselves firing the missiles. In addition to receiving weapons, the commander says he and his men were taken on a long journey to a secret training camp.

REBEL COMMANDER: [through interpreter] They asked for a group of 80 or 90 fighters from our command, and we headed towards the Turkish border.

NARRATOR: Based on their accounts, we retraced their journey across the border into Turkey. After a 14-hour drive, they say they arrived in the Turkish capital of Ankara and were brought to a hotel. They were kept inside and questioned by Americans, who would only say they were from the military. But the rebels believed they were from the CIA.

REBEL COMMANDER: [through interpreter] We met them for six to seven hours a day. It was medical examinations, questions for each person individually, like, “When did you join the uprising?” And “What was your profession or military rank?”

They had tracked our work and asked us to verify information about attacks we carried out, such as who was present and how many men were martyred. Your responses have to match the entire group’s.

NARRATOR: A week later, the rebels say they were surprised by what happened next.

REBEL COMMANDER: [through interpreter] We only found out where we were going to be trained on the last day in Ankara, when the Americans said goodbye and that, “Tomorrow, we’ll see you in Qatar.”

NARRATOR: They were flown 1,500 miles away to Doha, the capital of Qatar, which is a key U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf.

REBEL COMMANDER: [through interpreter] We drove for about two, two-and-a-half hours to reach the training ground. It was close to the Saudi border. We didn’t know where we were because it was desert all around.

NARRATOR: Over the course of three weeks, they say they were trained by Americans at a base in the desert guarded by Qatari soldiers. Like many of the rebels who were sent to Qatar, 21-year-old Hussein had never had any previous military training.

HUSSEIN: [through interpreter] They trained us to ambush regime or enemy vehicles and cut off the road. They also trained us on how to attack a vehicle, raid it, retrieve information or weapons and munitions, and how to finish off soldiers still alive after an ambush.

NARRATOR: The rebels were outfitted with brand-new uniforms and boots.

MUHAMMAD ALI: [subtitles] Those trousers are from them, right?

HUSSEIN: [subtitles] Yeah. We got these boots in training.

MUHAMMAD ALI: The Americans were warning the fighters not to tell this story at all. And even at one point, they told them, “If in any case this story will be published, we will stop funding you or arming you.”

NARRATOR: The CIA and the State Department declined to comment on the fighters’ accounts of arming and training, though the Obama administration has said it plans to step up support to the rebels, and there have been other reports the CIA is running covert training out of Jordan.

[LeftInTX]

16. Maybe total mistrust of Maliki???

I get the impression there is no sense of compromise, so it is "dog eat dog" and they won't be happy until Maliki and the Shia are gone. And since we bombed them, they are retaliating.

Their terrorist acts aren't going to help them, but they're kinda like "doomsday preppers" and right wing paranoid militia nut jobs on steroids. They trust no one and it makes no sense to you and me.

(I could be totally wrong, but that is just my impression)

[msongs]

17. it's all in their guidebook nt

[JI7]

18. i don't think it's political for many of the members who have joined up

i don't think it's religious either .

maybe earlier on it was but the way it has grown is mostly with assholes joining because they think it's fun. they steal, rape, kill etc.

[haele]

20. It's a long chess game to set up a religious caliphate.

1) Get together a cadre of wealthy backers whose families have benefitted from the strict authoritarian "prophecies and teachings" of a sect founder within their own countries. Watch them set themselves up as rulers as they buy their way into power.
2) Create a state religion in which fellow religionists could not exclude the political actions of that particular sect within the religion. Require every citizen to belong to that state religion and follow the interpretation of that religion the ruling families.
3) Provide "allowances" for the indoctrination and arming of radicalized youth who have no other future because of the harsh culture that arose from the strict teachings of said sect founder because they are from the wrong families (caste) or there is nothing for them due to limited resources that are the provenance of the ruling families.
4) Incorporate these armed youth as an internal policing force to maintain status quo amongst fellow religionist who might not take as strict an interpretation as the sect members. Turn a blind eye and an open pocketbook as these radical militias spread out into other countries recruiting and likewise indoctrinating other hungry, throw-away youth with few options in their own countries.
5) Deny any association with these groups of rampaging young militants to any outsiders to the culture. Continue doing "business as usual" with those outsiders, relying on greed and pride to let them seem to be "reasonable" to the outside.
6) Repeatedly punch the noses of potential outsider military competition politically and deflect responsibility for the damage to the stronger enemies of one's sect. Cause that competition to drain resources and manpower fighting those enemies.

7) Wait until those enemies are pretty much defeated, then allow your militants - your pawns, as it were - to sweep through the regions you really had your eye on, and collect all those resources for yourself and your friends, imposing your law on anyone who may be resident in those regions without any interference from the outside.

I would not be surprised at all to find out that since the 1980's and the "rise of the flat world", the Wa'habist family of Saud to have planned to leverage unregulated capitalism to payback the big Western Oil companies and create a caliphate and put the hundred or so extra sons in place to rule territory from most of Northern Africa from Morocco to the Horn, the Middle East from Eastern Europe to the Black Sea, through India to Bangladesh and down to Indonesia.
As chess players, they would realize that all they need are the Pawns - which are plentiful due to the greed of westerners and colonizers who look down on the importance of family and tribal alliances, and consider people without wealth as fungible tools.
Not that the house of Saud would not also think of people without wealth as tools, also - but their religious habit would have them just sell or kill off any excess population without value rather than throw it away and let it wander around hopelessly once the value is removed from it.

Haele

[hatrack]

21. They're begging us, in essence, not to throw them in the briar patch . . . .

Sorry for the Uncle Remus reference, but it seems to fit.

Damned if I know if we're collectively smart enough to refrain from doing so.