A New American Leader Rises in ISIS

The Atlantic ^ | January 13th, 2019 | SEAMUS HUGHESALEXANDER MELEAGROU-HITCHENSBENNETT CLIFFORD

[Old Teufel Hunden]

The clues are out there, if you know where to look. Scattered across far-flung corners of the internet, there is evidence that Zulfi Hoxha, the son of an Albanian-American pizza-shop owner from New Jersey, had sinister plans.

First there’s the defunct Twitter profile, which at one point engaged in a conversation with a State Department counter-propaganda account about the Islamic State. Then there’s the fact that he used the social-networking site Paltalk, a communications platform reportedly popular among Western jihadis. But none of it compares to the isis propaganda video that, according to multiple law-enforcement officials, shows Hoxha beheading captured Kurdish soldiers. If they are right about his identity, Hoxha is the first American Islamic State member known to be beheading individuals in such a video.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

And for all of you who want to get out of Syria, get out of the Middle East this is prima facia reason why we can't. These are the Americans/Europeans we know about in ISIS. How many more (with American/European passports) are there that we don't know about? That can easily get into our country and blow up/terrorize us? Kill them over there or kill them over here (after they've killed a bunch of our citizens). That's the choice we have.

[FLT-bird]

Just find him and kill him. We don’t need to have a presence in Syria to do that.

[PIF]

Agreed. So many here fail to understand the nature of this second Islamic war on civilization, fail to understand that a few soldiers dying and being wounded in the ME is far preferable to thousands/hundreds of thousands/millions of US citizens being slaughtered here.

Those who seemingly advocate this position would have blanched and surrendered to Hitler the day after D-Day with 4,000 US soldiers killed that day, and surrendered to Japan after Wake Island, let alone the thousands that died taking each of the various Pacific Islands.

Basically they are isolationists - and, ostrich-like, have their collective heads in the sand ... hidden from jihadis ...

[Hieronymus]

Fundamentally, this is a religious/philosophically based movement. To destroy it, it needs to be engaged on that level. Simultaneously engaging it on other levels as well may aid this, but cannot substitute for that level of engagement unless one is committed to having boots on the ground until such time as one is capable of engaging it on the religious/philosophical level.

Containment may be possible without engaging religiously/philosophically. If containment may be obtained by supporting proxies, so much the better.

On the religious/philosophical level at the moment, the west collectively is basically close to unarmed. Hedonism is something, but it ain’t much. Without a religious/philosophical revival, the west needs to count on Islam fighting against itself.

There are things about it that are attractive, especially if you have grown up within it, but I think most objective observers would conclude that it is something that is dying, and so whatever its attractions, it is not that compelling to join.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Just find him and kill him. We don’t need to have a presence in Syria to do that."

Being that this Jihadi is either in Syria or along the Iraqi border with Syria how do you intend to 'find him and kill him' if we are not in Syria? Also, how do you think he got there? Through Turkey, that's how. Erdogan is not our friend. Please think through what you say, don't just repeat slogans.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Fundamentally, this is a religious/philosophically based movement. To destroy it, it needs to be engaged on that level."

I agree with you. This is a multi faceted war. Much like the cold war and the war against communism. However, just like in the cold war, when did they make their greatest gains? After we pulled out/abandoned Vietnam. Communism was on the march throughout the 70s/80s in Indo-China, Africa and Central/South America. The same thing here, we have to unequivocally defeat them/wipe them out on the battlefield to make it less attractive to join.

[Mathews]

How do you think he’ll ever be able to set foot on American soil again without being arrested?

[John O]

The only real (workable) solution to this is to ban moslems from our shores entirely. If an American citizen is a moslem and leaves the country it should be seen as an act of treason and they should be banned from ever returning.

The only real solution to this issue is to kill very last man woman child camel etc that is infected with islam. Their scriptures command them to kill or enslave us until there are no more non moslems in the world.

We, as a country and a civilization, need to wake up to the fact that we are in a fight to the death and our enemy is the only one who is actually fighting. We need to wake up.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"How do you think he’ll ever be able to set foot on American soil again without being arrested?"

You could ask yourself how did he get over there without being caught and arrested. If he could do that, he can get back here. You could also ask yourself how many more Americans/Europeans are there that we don't know about?

Bottom line is that ISIS must be ideologically and militarily defeated.

[FatherofFive]

Islam is evil and needs to be eradicated

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"The only real (workable) solution to this is to ban moslems from our shores entirely."

Ok, lets come back to the real world and come up with real solutions. I gather even you realize this is not going to happen. One of my wife's doctors is a moslem from Egypt. He's helping people, not beheading them.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Islam is evil and needs to be eradicated"

Wahhabism/Islamo Fascism is evil and needs to be eradicated.

[Hieronymus]

Unfortunately I am afraid that Mohammed is a much more greater philosophical/religious adversary than Lenin, Marx, and Mao.

If I weren’t Catholic, I would advise nuking Mecca.

[FatherofFive]

They all follow the same playbook

[Hieronymus]

The only real (workable) solution to this is to ban moslems from our shores entirely.

---

Before the first amendment was extended to the states rather than being something limiting only the federal government, this was possible.

As it stands we are stuck in an awkward position of treating all religions equally as a way of coexisting in a somewhat pluralistic society and so accepting significant numbers of adherents of religions that are incapable of coexisting with non-adherents in a pluralistic society. This, potentially, is unsustainable, though it may go on for a few more decades or centuries.

[FLT-bird]

How? The same way we’ve killed lots of others. Intelligence sources be they on the ground or electronic followed by a drone strike.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"The same way we’ve killed lots of others. Intelligence sources be they on the ground or electronic followed by a drone strike."

Drones aren't the be all and end all. ISIS controls a small swath of territory along the Syrian/Iraqi border. The total mop up has to be done the old fashioned way. The Kurds supported by (us formerly and now I guess the Saudi/UAE/French and whoever else) combo will have to go in, dig them out and kill them.

[onedoug]

Destroy islam.

[mrmeyer]

Define what victory is. Staying there in perpetuity isn’t a viable option. Nation building and altuism are not good foreign policy.

[Old Teufel Hunden]

"Define what victory is."

I defined it over and over again when the announced Syria pullout was going on. So if you mean victory in Syria, or rather goal accomplishment if you like, it is:

1. Destroy ISIS
2. Protect our allies the Kurds from Turkey
3. Ensure that Iran pulls its soldiers out of Syria

All of these are happening in various stages in Syria right now. If our forces are replaced by this Saudi/UAE/French Force that we first heard about, it will continue to be accomplished. I can see it mostly being done by the end of this year. We will most likely support that force with direct air support from Iraq/Kuwait/Jordan.