WSJ Opinion
Islamic State’s Global Ambitions
ISIS—no longer a regional problem—is executing a complex strategy across three geographic rings.
By
Jessica Lewis McFate And
Harleen Gambhir
Updated Feb. 22, 2015
Snip:
“Once focused on recruiting radical Islamists in Europe and elsewhere to join the fight in Iraq and Syria, ISIS now also encourages them to remain at home to recruit others and launch local attacks, such as those in France and Denmark. These attacks are intended to polarize Western societies and deter strikes on the ISIS core ruling stronghold in Iraq and Syria. ISIS believes this polarization will lay the groundwork for an all-out war with the West when the time comes.
In short, ISIS has adapted to the U.S.-led coalition campaign in Iraq and Syria by rapidly building a regional and global network that it can use to recruit and attack. In this way, it may well be able to sustain its global terrorist campaign if it loses terrain in Iraq and Syria—perhaps even if it is driven out of that region.”
Ms. McFate, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, is research director at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington, D.C., where Ms. Gambhir is a counterterrorism analyst.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/islamic-states-global-ambitions-1424646205
And the response from the White House:
SUSAN RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER:
“Too often, what’s missing here in Washington is a sense of perspective,” Rice said. “Yes, there is a lot going on. Still, while the dangers we face may be more numerous and varied, they are not of the existential nature of what we confronted during World War II or during the Cold War. We cannot afford to be buffeted by alarmism and a nearly instantaneous new cycle.”
• Patton got his tanks to the 101st Airborne in two (2) days in WWII
• Obama cannot even get his lazy ass out of bed before 10am in the morning