An interesting article that gave me some insight into the rise of ISIS

[Cage]

After the latest senseless terrorist atrocities in Paris, it got me wondering what possible motivation the killers could have had.

Living on our fairly insular island, other than coping with a constant stream of refugees we are well removed from the conflicts occurring in the Middle East.

In search of some answers I did a bit of Googling and came across this article by Alastair Crooke in the Huff Post which gave me a little background on the rise of ISIS.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alasta...l?ir=Australia

While it is one man's interpretation of events over the past couple of hundred years it seems to be fairly factual, and at least gave me a little insight into the sort of people who can commit acts of terrorism like the one which happened in Paris on Friday night, and who can forget 9/11.

I'm not going to comment on the contents of the article other that to say that mankind has a serious problem.

This thread was not started for open discussion, but rather to give some awareness to those like myself who really have little idea of the history behind the Middle East conflicts.

[Steve Axford]

It's an interesting article, but probably not the whole story. Possibly the most important point is that ISIS (and Al Qaeda) has less to do with religion and more to do with power politics. We need to be careful not to seek revenge against those who are not our enemies, ie Muslims.

[Mark L]

Living on our fairly insular island, other than coping with a constant stream of refugees we are well removed from the conflicts occurring in the Middle East.

An aside.
Compared to many other nations, have we really had a large constant stream of refugees?
Our island status tends to help make that stream not large at any time?

[Cage]

It's an interesting article, but probably not the whole story. Possibly the most important point is that ISIS (and Al Qaeda) has less to do with religion and more to do with power politics. We need to be careful not to seek revenge against those who are not our enemies, ie Muslims.

I thought Part 1 of the article covered the distinction between the Daesh and the peaceful Muslim community. And for those not familiar with the term 'Daesh', which I'd never heard of till yesterday, it is now the name that world wide officialdom are using to refer to the terrorist group, as they are neither Islamic nor a State, just blasphemous barbarians.

And I agree wholeheartedly that we must not direct our anger at the generally peace loving Muslim community at large.

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An aside.
Compared to many other nations, have we really had a large constant stream of refugees?
Our island status tends to help make that stream not large at any time?

An aside to your aside.

I didn't use the word 'large', but up until fairly recent times I think you will agree that it was a fairly constant stream.

[Steve Axford]

I was agreeing with the article and just saying that I thought that was the key point. As for the name - yes, our government has been referring to Daesh for some time now, but few other Australians use the term. I used ISIS so people would understand. I don't think the name matters a lot. What matters is that they think we are at war with them and we think they are at war with us - so I guess that means we are at war. The big problem is that we don't like the other side in Syria either.

[Hawthy]

An Australian journalist, Michael Ware, gives a great insight as to how Islamic State began in an interview on the ABC. The founder, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was so radical that not even Al Qaeda wanted anything to do with him. It is an hour long interview and very interesting. Here is the link:

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/...21/4071673.htm

[Steve Axford]

This is the best thing I have seen explaining ISIS (or Islamic State or Daesh). Its by Waleed Ali and its right to the point. Well worth watching.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment...a105b321ca5d2d

[Mark L]

My better half saw that and made mention of it. Glad I've seen it, so thanks Steve.
My limited exposure to main stream media makes me think they treat terrorism like it's a reality T.V. show.

[ameerat42]

Yes! They are pretty horrific in general

[Cage]

Personally I wish that I didn't feel the need to acquaint myself with what all this threatening and abhorrent behavior is about.

[Steve Axford]

I've read about Hitler, on and off for my whole life and I still can't say I understand him or the Nazis. I'm sure I can't Understand the sociopathic killers of ISIS either, but I know enough to know that there is nothing good about them. Fortunately, they don't have the resources of a Hitler. It's just that the Middle East is such a mess and will take quite a while to settle down.

[Bennymiata]

The only thing that I can say publicly about them is that I wish that ISIS was WASWAS.

I just can't believe that Obama and Malcolm are stupid enough to think that they can find a way to negotiate with these barbarians.
Do they really think that by holding hands and singing Kumbya that they will stop what they are doing?

The ONLY way to fight them is by using their own superstitions and religious beliefs against them.
General Pershing discovered that back in the 1890's, and we stupidly have not learned from it.

[Steve Axford]

The only thing that I can say publicly about them is that I wish that ISIS was WASWAS.

I just can't believe that Obama and Malcolm are stupid enough to think that they can find a way to negotiate with these barbarians.
Do they really think that by holding hands and singing Kumbya that they will stop what they are doing?

The ONLY way to fight them is by using their own superstitions and religious beliefs against them.
General Pershing discovered that back in the 1890's, and we stupidly have not learned from it.

What gives you the idea that anyone wants to negotiate with ISIS? They are talking about negotiating with the Syrian groups opposed to ISIS, and that would now include Asad.

[ameerat42]

Same here, from what I understood this morning from the news. It's not II

[Cage]

What gives you the idea that anyone wants to negotiate with ISIS? They are talking about negotiating with the Syrian groups opposed to ISIS, and that would now include Asad.

Which would put negotiators somewhere between stony ground and a hard place. I can't see any peaceful outcome in that scenario.

[Steve Axford]

Yep. Whatever happens there won't be peace for quite a while. ISIS may be defeated militarily through a political solution - Now there's a strange mix of ideas. Like many, I thought a political solution meant no guns, but not in this case apparently. - but that won't fix all of the problem.