Quote:
Originally Posted by Makarov
Er, there is simply no doubt about it. However, I would hazard a guess that the membership of ISIS don't particularly care what the United Nations has to say on the matter.
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This.
They would view the UN as weak and not their ultimate target, because they know that the UN isn't going to do anything meaningful and its unlikely to pass a mandate that puts an army in the field.
ISIS wants the apocalypse, they want what they view as the final battle in the middle east between the pagan forces of the West and themselves, and winning or losing doesn't matter, just fighting the battle in their twisted imagination guarantees a first class seat to paradise.
In other words they believe that its the US that they need to force into a confrontation.
Part of me thinks that they're saavy enough to know that the current President isn't going to do anything before his end of term, but my bet is after the US elections that they're going to really test the incoming president.
At some point the decision is going to be in the West, how long can we ignore the problem to see if it will go away versus do people care enough about the suffering that ISIS is inflicting on the innocent to take a more active role.
The dumbest thing that a leader can do is fight a war on someone else's terms. when the Americans fought in Desert Storm one and two up until the post invasion phase, and in Afghanistan they fought the war on their terms and won.
When the insurgencies started the initiative switched and the Americans tried to fight those wars that were being defined and dictated by someone else and they bogged down and lost the peace.
If the Americans fight ISIS on the ground, ISIS' strategic intention will be to kill America in a battle of a thousand pin pricks, they'll bleed the American military white by fighting a war based on killing and not on securing land or assets.
They also know that the American's won't fight the war based on ruthlessness that is needed to beat a group like ISIS.